CuO/Al Igniters For Solid Rocket Motor Ignition

Abstract

A safe, fast, repeatable means of ignition is required for lab-scale solid rocket motor test experiments. To prevent early burn data from being obscured, an energetic compound with a high reaction rate is needed. A thermite mixture based on micron copper (II) oxide and micron aluminum was chosen for this purpose. This work investigates the efficacy of CuO/Al thermites for lab-scale rocket motor ignition, including experiments on safety testing, packaging, initiation, igniter size determination, and hot fire testing. The end result is a safe, inexpensive, efficient, and readily available method of igniting lab-scale solid rocket combustors.