Abstract
The design of regeneratively cooled rocket motors has been hindered seriously by the lack of available data for the physical properties of both the propellants and alloys used in rocket-motor construction. Bell Aircraft has initiated a program to extend the accuracy and range of available data together with an attempt to broaden the fundamental basis for generalizing the heat-transfer analysis. The program includes a laboratory-test study of the heat transfer through liquid-coolant film, combustion-gas film, and rocket-motor wall. This paper is primarily concerned with the heat transfer through the rocket wall. A test method is discussed for obtaining gas side wall temperatures in a rocket motor in order to evaluate the suitability of various alloys for rocket-motor construction. Eight alloys have been studied by employing a thick-walled water-cooled nozzle into which cylindrical specimens could be inserted for tests. The heat flows and wall temperatures have been determined by employing the nozzle as a heat meter and by using a new calculation method that accounts for variable thermal properties with temperature. The thermal conductivities of all alloys tested have been determined accurately by the Institute of Research, Lehigh University. A modification of this technique is suggested for measuring the combustion-gas film coefficient in a rocket motor.
