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#20
by
JayP
on 26 May, 2010 17:13
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This maybe a strange question, but how do the spent SRM segments start on their trip back to Utah? I know that they are washed and dissasembled at Hanger AF and that they end up in the same rail cars they are delivered in, but how do they get from one to the other. There are no railroad tracks out to the cape industrial area. Do they use the KAMAG transporters that move them from the RPSF to the VAB or something else?
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#21
by
Jim
on 26 May, 2010 18:12
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They are trucked from Hangar AF to a rail siding which is between Kennedy Parkway and Contractor Road, which is south of the VAB.
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#22
by
JosephB
on 12 Jul, 2010 20:02
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You know, I've gotten fired up about the 1.7 - 2 million Lb thrust staged combustion kerolox engine talk but these SRB's are pretty impressive.
Not to mention the potential of the HTPB 5 seg composite motor (4.7 million lb)(page 5 of attached study).
Anyone care to take a stab at the pros & cons of SRB vs. kerolox booster for a layperson like myself? Thanks.
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#23
by
Gambina-GSFC
on 02 Sep, 2010 15:01
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I am looking for SRB drawings, just trying to figure out how the load is transferred from the booster to the ET attachment point. The SRB just seems like a big casing with the solid fuel in the middle. Therefore, the load must be applied through the casing into the ET attachment point. I wam very interested on how the SRB is structurally built.
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#24
by
Jim
on 02 Sep, 2010 15:25
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I am looking for SRB drawings, just trying to figure out how the load is transferred from the booster to the ET attachment point. The SRB just seems like a big casing with the solid fuel in the middle. Therefore, the load must be applied through the casing into the ET attachment point. I wam very interested on how the SRB is structurally built.
The casing is the structure and it is nothing more than a cylinder.
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#25
by
JayP
on 02 Sep, 2010 20:25
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I am looking for SRB drawings, just trying to figure out how the load is transferred from the booster to the ET attachment point. The SRB just seems like a big casing with the solid fuel in the middle. Therefore, the load must be applied through the casing into the ET attachment point. I wam very interested on how the SRB is structurally built.
The vertical load is transfered from the top edge of the case to the bottom of the forward skirt. Milled panels on the skirt direct the load to the ET attach fitting on the side of the skirt next to the ET. the fitting protruded from the side of the skirt and fits under the end of the ET crossbeam (which sticks out from the side of the intertank). the loads go into the beam and are redistributed to teh rest of the tank structure by the intertank panels.
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#26
by
AnalogMan
on 02 Sep, 2010 23:54
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To add a little to JayP's post - this is a description of the structure (taken from an L2 document)
The forward skirt, 146 inches in diameter and 125 inches long, consists of a 2219 aluminum welded cylinder assembly made from precision-machined and brake-formed skin panels and a welded thrust post subassembly weighing approximately 5700 lb. Welded to this are the forward ring, RSRM attach ring, intermediate rings, gussets, beams, etc. The skirt is then artificially aged and machine finished.A second older source (from 1981) describes the skin panels as varying in thickness from 0.5 to 2 inches.
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#27
by
chriswhitty1
on 31 Jan, 2011 11:38
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hello
Cool forum! I was wondering how the fuel segments are attached to the wall of the srb sections.
I think there is a space between each segment when the srb is assembled.
What stops the fuel segment from moving inside the cylindrical housing when it fires?
cheers
Chris
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#28
by
Jim
on 31 Jan, 2011 11:42
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hello
Cool forum! I was wondering how the fuel segments are attached to the wall of the srb sections.
I think there is a space between each segment when the srb is assembled.
What stops the fuel segment from moving inside the cylindrical housing when it fires?
cheers
Chris
The propellant is poured into the segment metal casing and then is "cured" (hardens). So the propellant adheres to the side the casing.
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#29
by
Mark Dave
on 31 Jan, 2011 19:42
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There was a segment shown on Extreme Machines that showed the molding of the propellant for the SRBs years ago.
Since each segment is filled one by one, is there a filler to prevent gaps between the propellant molds?
Why was the insta-foam added to the lowest segment of each SRB? Earlier flights never had this.
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#30
by
Jim
on 31 Jan, 2011 23:23
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There was a segment shown on Extreme Machines that showed the molding of the propellant for the SRBs years ago.
Since each segment is filled one by one, is there a filler to prevent gaps between the propellant molds?
Why was the insta-foam added to the lowest segment of each SRB? Earlier flights never had this.
there is insulation between segments
The foam was added for thermal and splash down protection.
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#31
by
Prober
on 28 Dec, 2011 17:27
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#32
by
JayP
on 28 Dec, 2011 17:34
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thought I might port this thread to get more ideas & answers.
Horizontal assembly of the SRB, might be a better way to go? Any ATK people around? Do you assemble the test boosters horizontally?
http://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=27613.30
The problem is erecting a single unit weighing more than 1 million pounds. It has been discussed many times in reference to monolithic motors.
Obviously, if your going to fire the motor horizontally (as ATK does in Utah) thats not a concern, but it doesn't help you with a launch vehicle.
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#33
by
wolfpack
on 28 Dec, 2011 17:41
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thought I might port this thread to get more ideas & answers.
Horizontal assembly of the SRB, might be a better way to go? Any ATK people around? Do you assemble the test boosters horizontally?
http://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=27613.30
I don't think you'd be able to lift them into the vertical after horizontal assembly without significant risk that the seals between segments would be compromised. I recall that after Challenger, there was some concern that the turn on the crawlerway to pad 39B might have introduced a torque moment that was thought to possibly have compromised a seal. Disproven later, of course.
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#34
by
Mark Dave
on 30 Dec, 2011 23:42
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Are there any photos showing the SRB/ET attach ring modification being added after STS-51L so STS-26R can launch?
What are these bands that partly wrap around the SRBs? You can see them on the aft side of the right SRB in this photo and partly on the forward side.
http://www-pao.ksc.nasa.gov/kscpao/images/large/2011-5359.jpg
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#35
by
JayP
on 30 Dec, 2011 23:55
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#36
by
Mark Dave
on 31 Dec, 2011 19:13
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I see.
I only noticed these on the boosters following STS-26R. Before that there weren't any on the boosters. Why? I mean after STS-51L they were added. Was this part of the RTF changes?
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#37
by
Mark Dave
on 06 Jan, 2012 13:06
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How are the SRBs stacked for the tests in Utah? Are the boosters stacked as usual and then laid down or are they assembled in the horizontal?
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#38
by
Jim
on 06 Jan, 2012 13:09
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Everything horizontal.
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#39
by
wolfpack
on 06 Jan, 2012 13:58
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How are the SRBs stacked for the tests in Utah? Are the boosters stacked as usual and then laid down or are they assembled in the horizontal?
Yep, horizontal. One of the major criticisms in the Rogers report. RTF demo and qual motors were still done horizontally, but they had to add hydraulic jacks to simulate flight loads while firing.