Controllable combustion behaviors of the laser-controlled solid propellant

Abstract

Microsatellites have been widely applied in the fields of communication, remote sensing, navigation and science exploration due to its characteristics of low cost, flexible launch mode and short development period. However, conventional solid-propellant have difficulties in starting and interrupting combustion because combustion is autonomously sustained after ignition. Herein, we proposed a new type of solid-propellant named laser-controlled solid propellant, which is sensitive to laser irradiation and can be started or interrupted by switching on/off the continuous wave laser. To demonstrate the feasibility and investigate the controllable combustion behaviors under different laser on/off conditions, the combustion parameters including burning rate, ignition delay time and platform pressure were tested using pressure sensor, high-speed camera and thermographic camera. The results showed that the increase of laser-on or laser-off duration both will lead to the decrease of propellant combustion performance during re-ignition and re-combustion process. This is mainly attributed to the laser attenuation caused by the accumulation of combustion residue and the change of chamber ambient temperature. Simultaneously, the multiple ignition tests revealed that the increased chamber ambient temperature after combustion can make up for the energy loss of laser attenuation and expansion of chamber cavity. However, the laser-controlled combustion performance of solid propellant displayed a decrease trend with the addition of ignition times. Nevertheless, the results still exhibited good laser-controlled agility of laser-controlled solid propellant and manifested its inspiring potential in many aspects of space missions.

Keywords

• Laser-controlled solid propellant
• Laser ablation
• Multiple ignition
• Controllable combustion
• Combustion behaviors