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Overview

Ensign-Bickford Aerospace & Defense Company designs and manufactures several different types of components used for solid rocket motor ignition. These designs are compatible with EBA&D explosive signal transfer systems.

Application

As a primary producer of the Thru-Bulkhead Initiator for many missile and launch programs since 1985, Ensign-Bickford Aerospace & Defense has had or achieved significant design and manufacturing experience with motor ignition components. EBA&D has qualified these designs to DOD-E-83578A for specific launch vehicle applications.

Thru-Bulkhead Initiator (TBI)

Solid rocket motors typically employ an igniter basket which requires pyrotechnic ignition to, in turn, ignite the rocket motor. This must be accomplished without violating the integrity of the rocket motor's pressure vessel. The TBI performs this task by providing a means of transferring an energetic signal across an intergal metallic bulkhead within the TBI housing. The TBI bulkhead can withstand the heat and pressure of the entire rocket motor burn. The TBI is commonly designed to mount directly in a threaded boss or port in the solid rocket motor case.

The output of the TBI can be tailored to be compatible with the sensitivity of the rocket motor igniter. In most cases either BKNO3 or TI/CuO is utilized.

Other Ignition Systems

In addition to the standard TBI product line, EBA&D has the capability to provide ignition assemblies which work in concert with the TBI to meet unique rocket motor ignition requirements. In some cases the TBI can provide only the means of transferring the signal across the motor bulkhead, while a secondary device is then needed to transfer a signal and eventual ignition stimulus to the motor igniter. These are typically needed where the motor igniter is of a unique geometry or a significant distance from the motor bulkhead.

The devices described in this section are:

  • Thru Bulkhead Initiators
  • Motor Igniters