Introduction

A brief introduction to the components of a typical solid propellant rocket motor is given. The division of the pressure-time trace of solid motor into ignition transient, equilibrium operation, and tail-off transient is explained. Next, the two basic methods of performance prediction, namely equilibrium-pressure analysis and incremental analysis, are introduced and their applicability conditions based on port-to-throat area ratios and volumetric loading fractions of propellant are discussed.