Design and Simulation of Space Solid Rocket Motors Based on Glass Beads Reinforced Polyamide 12 Composites

Space solid rocket motors (SRM) are widely used in micro-nano satellites, and the SRM will become the negative mass of the satellite after working, so the lightweight design and rapid manufacturing of it have always been the hotspot in aerospace field. In this study, a space SRM with lightweight design using glass beads (GBs) reinforced polyamide 12 (PA12) composites was simulated from microscopic to macroscopic. The thermal structural properties of PA12/GBs composites were analyzed using the representative volume element method to obtain the equivalent thermal conductivity and thermal expansion coefficient of the material. A space SRM was designed, the temperature and mechanical boundary conditions of the shell working were determined based on the internal ballistic parameters, and the thermal coupling simulation of the PA12/GBs composites shell was carried out. The results show that PA12/GBs composites have high specific strength and good thermal insulation performance. For space SRM with short operating time and low combustion chamber pressure, PA12/GBs composites can be used as the shell material to achieve the purpose of lightweight design and rapid manufacturing of space SRM.