Propellant cohesive fracture during the peel test of a propellant/liner structure

Abstract

The integrity of propellant/liner structures in rocket motors is critical to ensure controlled combustion of the engine. In an effort to improve the bonding between the liner and the propellant, it is necessary to characterize it well. Therefore, a propellant–liner structure, bounded thanks to co-curing, has been submitted to a peel test while recording the macroscopic fracture energy and the local displacement field on the propellant-free surface. The experimental setup includes two cameras in order to record the displacement field on the propellant-free surface. Upon loading, the peel force stabilizes quickly due to a cohesive fracture in the propellant, providing access to the fracture energy. While the crack propagates through the propellant, it is observed that only a small localized area is submitted to strain, and most of the structure remains unstrained.