A Method of Embedding Accelerometers in Solid Rocket Motors

Abstract

The USAF MINUTEMAN ICBM Transportation and Handling Test Program involves vibration testing of full scale motors. A major problem in vibration testing of large solid propellant motors is developing a method of embedding accelerometers in the viscoelastic propellant. The accelerometers are needed to determine experimentally the dynamic response of the propellant during the environmental tests, and to verify the motor\u27s dynamic analysis. The engineering analyses and experimental tests employed by Thiokol Chemical Corporation to develop the accelerometer installation method is the subject of this paper. The results of the instrumentation, and the degree to which the desired results were achieved, are discussed. Extensive engineering studies were made to determine the minimum number, location, and type of accelerometers required to describe the dynamic response of the propellant. A technique was developed for controlling the position and orientation of the accelerometers when embedded in the motor propellant. A laboratory research program was conducted to develop reliable bond joints