is this a good idea?

[spacy600]

"The resultant hot gases are expanded through the nozzle 425. Because the nozzle itself is manufactured of the solid fuel material (such as acrylic), the size of the nozzle expands as the motor burns. That is, at least a portion of the nozzle itself is burned and consumed because the nozzle is made of the solid fuel material. The initial flare of the nozzle 425 can be varied based on the altitude at which the motor is initially fired."<br /><br />http://tinyurl.com/yu88e8<br /><br />Thanks<br /><br />

 

[spacy600]

ok, thanks.<br /><br />Have you ever hear of a nozzle burning all the way off?<br /><br />And what effect would that have on the trajectory?<br />if the nozzle was being consumed unevenly?<br /><br />Thanks again.

 

[spacy600]

OK thanks,<br /><br />You said it was standard on solids and hybrids. <br /><br />isn't that kind of risky?

 

[MeteorWayne]

Considering the record, apparently not.<br /><br />AFAIK, there has been no loss of vehicle or loss of mission from nozzle issues.<br /><br />I'm no expert, so could be wrong, but I don't know of any.<br />So from what we know, the ablative nozzle seems to work OK. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#000080"><em><font color="#000000">But the Krell forgot one thing John. Monsters. Monsters from the Id.</font></em> </font></p><p><font color="#000080">I really, really, really, really miss the "first unread post" function</font><font color="#000080"> </font></p> </div>

 

[henryhallam]

Could you even use it to your advantage, as a sort of crude variable-geometry nozzle? Rockets perform better at high altitudes with large expansion ratios, so maybe you could arrange it to erode such that the effective exit area increases while the throat area remains constant.

 

[CalliArcale]

Well, solid rocket motors already achieve variable thrust by altering the grain. (Different shapes produce different thrust profiles, because the remaining surface area of the propellant changes as it erodes away.) So in theory, that's plausible. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p> </p><p><font color="#666699"><em>"People assume that time is a strict progression of cause to effect, but actually from a non-linear, non-subjective viewpoint it's more like a big ball of wibbly wobbly . . . timey wimey . . . stuff."</em>  -- The Tenth Doctor, "Blink"</font></p> </div>