| The goal of this study was to demonstrate the use of classic PID control theory to control the chamber pressure of a solid propulsion pintle motor test bed. Control of the chamber pressure is achieved by extending and retracting the pintle, which changes the effective throat area. By changing the effective throat area, changes in the chamber pressure are achieved. In order to accomplish this goal, a control program was developed in Labview. In addition a simulation program was developed in VisSim. The simulation program is used to verify the control program operation. Cold gas simulation and testing was performed to verify both the control program operation and simulation methodology. The final demonstrations of the solid propulsion control were seven controlled solid pintle motor tests. The results show that the control program developed is able to closely control the chamber pressure of the solid propulsion pintle motor test bed. |
