I mean - the 4-segments SRB are "easily" stretched to 5 and even 5.5 segments ("easily" = no one talks about major technical hurdles).
how far can this design be stretched before significant changes are required?
It’s still early days in the development of the mammoth Ares V, with further configuration changes not ruled out – especially based on gaining performance. The largest ‘viable’ Ares V to be noted is ‘Ares V Max’ – which consists of seven RS-68s and two 6.5 segment boosters.Even taller variants have also been documented, but all are too tall to fit inside the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB), and are classed as requiring a new giant Vehicle Integration Building (VIB) to be built – which would not be viable on associated costs.
Apart from being essentially a complete redesign, would there be any advantage by increasing the diameter of the segments?
Apart from being essentially a complete redesign,
would there be any advantage by increasing the diameter of the segments?
Obviously pad compatibility goes out the door along with a lot of other things but a six-segment motor is already getting unwieldy and heavy.Why hasn't a filament-wound (lighter) motor been reconsidered? Haven't filament SRB motors been built and test-fired?
Back in the mid sixties (1965?) (Aerojet or Morton Thiokol?) tested a 260 in solid motor for the Air Force that delivered almost 6.5 million pounds of thrust. That was a monster much bigger than the SRB's of today.
Quote from: TyMoore on 07/19/2010 04:14 pmBack in the mid sixties (1965?) (Aerojet or Morton Thiokol?) tested a 260 in solid motor for the Air Force that delivered almost 6.5 million pounds of thrust. That was a monster much bigger than the SRB's of today.Yes, it was intended to be the first stage in a new version of the Saturn I with a large solid first stage and J-2 powered second stage. Three guesses where the idea for Ares I came from...But if you think thrust oscillation was bad with the 5-seg, it was 100x worse with the big monolithic solids. Essentially, the amplitude of the oscillation is mostly a function of the motor's diameter...
Also, Ares I-X (yes, that one) proved that these can be mitigated efficiently
Quote from: neutrino on 07/19/2010 06:36 pm Also, Ares I-X (yes, that one) proved that these can be mitigated efficiently It did no such thing. Orion would still have to carry extra hardware
IIRC, there was a limit to the width of the srb segments due to them being transported on railroad cars. Would that prevent the external dimensions from being increased?