How a Solid Rocket Motor works?



How a Solid Rocket Motor works?

  • Heat sensitive charge of the initiating system is ignited by passing electric current through the embedded wire.
  • The energy release system of igniter catches fire and delivers sustained heat energy to the propellant surface.
  • Solid propellant which contains both oxygen and fuel burns and builds up pressure.
  • Pressure stabilizes when rate of gas production equals rate of gas flow through the nozzle.
  • Thrust is generated when hot gases pass through the nozzle.

Geo-Synchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV)


Geo-Synchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV)

ISRO  developed a Geo-Synchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) by incorporating the PSLV solid and liquid stage technologies for the booster system and a cryogenic upper stage as a third stage. This vehicle is about 49 m tall with a lift-off mass of 400 t. 

 First stage of GSLV
The first stage of GSLV comprises of solid propellant motor and four liquid propellant strap-on motors derived from the PSLV second stage. First stage is 20.3 m long and 2.8 m in diameter and carries 129 tons of Hydroxyl Terminated Poly Butadiene (HTPB) based solid propellant. The stage develops about 4700 kN thrust and burns for 100 s. 
 Four strap-on stages

The four strap-on stages are 19.70 m long and 2.1 m in diameter. The strapon liquid stage adopts VIKAS engine and stage is loaded with 40 tons of hypergolic propellants, namely, Unsymmetrical Di-Methyl Hydrazine (UDMH) as fuel and Nitrogen Tetroxide (N2O4) as oxidizer, stored in two separate tanks.
 Second stage of GSLV

The second stage of GSLV is 11.6 m long and 2.8 m in diameter and loaded with 37.5 tonne of UDMH and N2O4 in two compartments of an aluminium alloy tank separated by a thin metal sheet known as common bulkhead. The VIKAS engine used for the second stage employs a turbo-pump system producing a thrust of about 700 kN in vacuum.


 Third stage of GSLV
  The third stage of GSLV uses a Cryogenic Stage (CS) which is procured from Russia. The stage, that employs liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen as fuel and oxidizer respectively. It is 8.7 m long and 2.9 m in diameter. Liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen (LOX) are stored in two separate aluminium alloy tanks.  With a propellant loading of 12.5 tonne, the stage can burn for duration of about 750 s producing a nominal thrust of 75 kN.
 The heat shield which protects the spacecraft during the flight is of 3.4 m diameter and 7.8 m long. 








 The first flight of GSLV was on April 18. 2001 and it successfully launched G-SAT spacecraft of 1540 kg into geo-synchronous transfer orbit. 

The overall lift-off mass of the vehicle - 400 tons
Length of vehicle                                  - 49m

Payload capacity of PSLV : 

Low Earth Orbit (LEO)                        - 4.5 tons
Sun Synchronous Polar Orbit (SSPO)   - 2.2 tons

Geo Transfer orbit (GTO)                     - 2 ton.








Comparison of Solid Rocket Motors around the world



Comparison of Solid Rocket Motors around the world







Parameter
RSRM
  (Space     Shuttle)
P230
(Araine 5)
PS1 (S139)(PSLV/
GSLV)
S200
(LVM3)
Diameter (m)
3.7
3.05
2.8
3.2
Length (m)
38.2
27.0
20.2
24.9
Motor case material
D6AC
D6AC
M250
M250
Propellant mass (t)
504
237
138
207
Nozzle expansion ratio
7.7
11
9
12
Vacuum specific impulse (s)
268
275
270
274.5





Comparison of Solid Rocket Motors of Space Shuttle, Araine 5, PSLV, GSLV, and LVM3, 
 Comparison of  RSRM, P230, S139 and S200 Solid Rocket Motors 





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