Nanostructured solid propellants for rockets

Propulsion by means of solid propellant is one of the advanced aerospace and missile fields of research. The remarkable performance, with a technologically more simple system than the liquid propellant jet, put this type of propellant at the heart of many advanced applications. Solid propellant engines find their application in all the propelled mission phases where the reference parameters (Trust Vectoring Control (TVC), time of ignition. 

43 (a) Ultrasound spectra produced to analyze the morphology of the nanostructured plate produced with the RTM facility (see Fig. 6.42(b)). (b) The analysis of the negative image (obtained from X-ray) of the demonstrator similar to that reported in Fig. 6.42(b). In this case internal defects are observed. This indicates that the RTM process has not been performed correctly.  

The propellant is characterized by an appropriate mixture of a fuel and a comburent (more additives and eventual catalysts). 

Apart from the physical effects related to the geometrical/dimensional characterization of the propellant reservoir, aU the intrinsic performances of the solid grain depend on the physical /mechanical properties of the fuel-comburent mixture. 

A solution typically used to increase the performance (r and then T) consists of charging the propellant with metallic micro-particles that are extremely energetic, such as aluminium. During combustion this allows further energy to be supplied that improves the specific impulse. 

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