Application of stress wave theory for pyroshock isolation at spacecraft-rocket interface

Abstract A large number of pyroshock devices are employed in spacecraft and rockets to realize stage separation and appendage deployment. Release of pyroshock devices induces high-level transient shock responses which tend to cause fatal damages in electronic equipment made of crystals and brittle materials. This paper aims to provide methods to isolate pyroshock and guarantee the safety of such equipment against high-frequency shocks. Firstly, stress wave transmission mechanism in stepped rods is investigated, upon which optimal area rate for shock isolation is achieved. Then, two spacecraft-rocket interface structures for pyroshock isolation, namely isolation hole and interim segment, are proposed. Both numerical simulations and experiments are carried out to validate the two shock isolation strategies. It is revealed that the interim segment structure shows better pyroshock isolation performance at the cost of increasing the weight of launching system whereas isolation hole is an optimal choice to reduce pyroshock response without causing weight increase.