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Applications of High-Speed Photography in Rocket Motor Research
By FLOYD G. STRATTON and KURT R. STERLING
Hazards and conditions in research on rocket engines have established highspeed photography as a useful tool. High-speed cameras have removed personnel and sensitive equipment from dangerous areas. The camera's independence of the rocket engine permits an unbiased record of firing behavior and often yields clues to anomalous occurrences not otherwise explainable. The application of high-speed photography to transparent rocket thrust chamber research is emphasized; some specialized variations of normal schlieren and shadowgraph techniques are described, as are the studies of hydraulic transients.
General Applications
When a rocket motor is fired from a fixed "tie-down" position in a test cell, the primary objective is to obtain information regarding the operation of the motor. This is often a complex and difficult problem because of the extreme dangers to instruments and personnel.
Corrosive acids mixed with highly combustible fuel under extremely high pressures are some of the hazards that exist during firing. Malfunctions of the equipment can result in dangerous explosions. Therefore, one of the primary requirements for firing conditions is safety to personnel and protection for valuable recording equipment.
Presented on October 10, 1952, at the
Society's Convention at Washington, D.G.,
by Floyd G. Stratton and Kurt R. Stehling,
Bell Aircraft Corporation, P.O. Box 1,
Buffalo 5, N.Y.
(This paper was received on November 13,
1952.)
Test cells are made of thick concrete walls with small portholes of bulletproof glass which permit safe observation of the motor firing. The test engineers would like to be able to see more, without exposing themselves unneccessarily to the hazards involved. Therefore the high-speed camera has proved an excellent tool for obtaining a record of certain phases of rocket firings. For example, cameras can be synchronized easily to record the start or shutdown phase of a rocket motor operation.
It has been found that running the cameras at approximately 1000 frames/ sec was sufficient to permit recording the combustion phenomena, and at the same time to have a fairly long running time for high-speed cameras. An average running time of approximately 5 sec has been obtained. This short camera operating time left much to be desired, since most firings lasted longer, in some cases, several minutes. This, of course,
May 1953 Journal of the SMPTE Vol. 60
597