SYMPOSIA PAPER Published: 01 January 1963
STP44445S

Quality Control Procedures for Rocket Motor Cases: Reinforced Plastic Versus Steel

Source

The problem of quality control for filament-wound reinforced plastic pressure vessels is quite unlike that encountered in the production of metallic vessels. Here, the fabricator's controls must start with the basic constituents of the final case material rather than with forged blanks of a particular alloy and they must extend to the actual process of combining the composite elements. They are currently limited in the analysis of the finished part to techniques and equipment developed for use with totally different materials.

Against this background of total differences in the quality control problem, the Allison Division of General Motors Corp. has established a series of quality control procedures to provide product reliability of reinforced-plastic rocket motor cases consistent with that being achieved with their titanium and steel counterparts in the Minuteman rocket. This paper describes the steel and reinforced plastic quality control programs currently in existence and describes a new final product quality control technique now under study for reinforced-plastic cases.

Author Information

Duvall, P., F.
Allison Division, General Motors Corp., Ind.
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Details
Developed by Committee: D20
Pages: 299–304
DOI: 10.1520/STP44445S
ISBN-EB: 978-0-8031-5974-7
ISBN-13: 978-0-8031-6128-3