Structural Behavior Examination of Frequently Used Solid Propellant Sections Under Centrifugal Loading Using Response Surface Method

Abstract

This research aims to examine structural responses of frequently used solid propellant sections such as tubular, star, slotted, wagon wheel, and anchor subjected to centrifugal acceleration load. Viscoelastic finite element models of the grains having different dimensions are constructed and solved in the Abaqus environment using in-house parametric Python scripts prepared within the content of this work. Validation of the finite element models is accomplished by comparing finite element results with an analytical equation found in the literature. Finally, different response surfaces are constructed in the Minitab environment to determine the effect of grain cross-section parameters on von Mises stress level of the propellant. Thus, the most effective cross-section parameters on von Mises stress are determined for the examined grain shapes.