Novel Real-Time Nondestructive Technology for Chemical and Structural Health Management of Solid Rocket Propellants

An innovative prognostics and chemical health management (CHM) technique was developed, for quantifying and characterizing health status of a CL-01 composite solid rocket propellant of tactical rocket motors. The technique is a cutting-edge real-time nondestructive technology approach which utilizes Near Infrared (NIR) spectra (M. Blanco, and I. Villarroya, 2002) emitted by microPHAZIRTM NIR miniature handheld platform, developed by Thermo Fisher Scientific. Benchtop high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and ion chromatography (IC) were utilized as baseline reference techniques for correlation to microPHAZIRTM NIR measurements. To build a quantitative calibration model, near infrared spectra were acquired for twenty freshly manufacture