Experimetal investigation of small scale solid fuel plasma generation

In 1984, the United States of America adopted the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) as the first orbiting defense weapons system. The design of this complex defense system requires a burst mode power source that is portable, compact, and dependable. Researchers of the SDI effort have chosen Magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) combustion as a possible high pulsed power source. However, a high energy fuel is necessary to provide the required power levels. An aluminum/carbon (AL:C) solid mixture with gaseous oxygen is one candidate fuel that has been chosen. However, little is known regarding combustion of AL:C solid fuel mixture. Hence, the unknowns of AL:C combustion in this hybrid combustor arrangement set the stage for this research. This thesis details the design, construction and testing of an AL:C hybrid combustor. The design and construction of this combustor satisfy the stringent SDI compact size and weight requirements. The overall study presented herein encompasses design considerations through initial hot fired tests. Two combustion experiments are discussed and comparisons are made between theoretical and performance results. Results from this study are promising. Comparisons between design and experimental values show that the AL:C performance was modeled well and few modifications to the test train were needed. Testing also revealed a good combustor integrity and the overall goals of the testing were accomplished. The results of this study has established new standards for AL:C solid fuel combustion and provided a data base for AL:C fired MHD devices.