UT San Antonio与SwRI合作研究固体推进剂燃烧

Southwest Research Institute与The University of Texas at San Antonio合作研究固体推进剂燃烧，目标是完善化学动力学模型并改进固体火箭发动机的效率和性能。

Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) and The University of Texas at San Antonio (UT San Antonio) are collaborating to better understand how solid propellant burns, with the goal of refining current chemical kinetics models to improve solid rocket motor (SRM) efficiency and performance. The research could support local resource utilization for future missions to Mars and beyond.

该项目由SwRI Research Engineer Mariana Rodriguez Chavez与UT San Antonio副教授Daniel Pineda博士负责，并获得Connecting through Research Partnerships（Connect）计划提供的125,000美元资助。

The project, led by SwRI Research Engineer Mariana Rodriguez Chavez and Daniel Pineda, PhD, associate professor in the UT San Antonio Margie and Bill Klesse College of Engineering and Integrated Design, is supported by a $125,000 grant from the Connecting through Research Partnerships (Connect) program, which fosters collaboration between the two institutions.

研究人员将使用激光吸收光谱（LAS）测量燃烧过程中化学物质的种类及其浓度变化。

SwRI and UT San Antonio will use lasers as measuring tools instead of inserting probes or sensors into the burning propellant. As they burn, different chemical species will react to the laser light beam in different ways, telling researchers which chemicals are present and how their concentration changes over time. This process, known as laser absorption spectroscopy (LAS), capitalizes on SwRI’s expertise in solid propellants and UT San Antonio’s laser-based measurement techniques.

UT San Antonio将开发可进行光学测量的台式反应器；SwRI将调整其条状燃烧器，以扩大受控条件下推进剂燃烧速率测量技术的应用。

“Leveraging our experience and facilities in advanced optical diagnostics and spectroscopy, UT San Antonio will develop a bench-scale, optically accessible reactor that is compatible with the latest quantitative diagnostics, such as mid-infrared high-speed imaging,” Pineda said. “This project could serve as a cornerstone for pursuing longer-term and larger projects related to solid propellants.” The small-scale test setup at UT San Antonio will allow the researchers to develop and refine laser measurements in a controlled environment. As the work progresses, SwRI will adapt its strand burner to scale up techniques used to measure propellant burn rates under controlled conditions, including LAS.