Manufacturing technology program for improvement in productivity and cost in the manufacture of carbon-carbon rocket nozzles

As this paper outlines, the objective of this program is to demonstrate the cost effective manufacturing of carbon-carbon rocket motor nozzles. The current process for producing carbon-carbon rocket motor nozzles has a significant material scrap factor. This scrap is made up of rejects due to rod diameters being outside the specification and also the distribution of the various diameters within the specification. The rad distribution is very important and plays a significant role in determining preform dimensions and ease of preform assembly. Incorporating rods with tightly controlled diameters will reduce material scrap. Also, the tightly controlled rods will result in a mon uniform easily assembled preform. These benefits will result in a cost reduction of approximately 15-20% which represents a one month reduction in manufacturing lead time. This one month reduction represents an estimated 11% savings in the processing time of a billet which is significant as it is one of the long lead procurement items for a solid rocket nozzle. Through the U.S. Navy Center of Excellence for Composites Manufacturing Technology (CECMT), funding has been provided to address this issue for carbon-carbon rocket nozzles. This paper will discuss the multi-disciplinary and multi-company approach, program milestones, and the benefits to the composites fabrication industry and to future weapon system programs.