APPLICATION OF A GENETIC ALGORITHM TO THE OPTICAL CHARACTERIZATION OFPROPELLANT SMOKE

A search procedure based on a genetic algorithm is used to determine t he optical properties and the particle size distribution function of p ropellant smoke from angular light-scattering measurements. The optica l properties and size distribution parameters are obtained by matching theoretical values with measurements of the light scattered by smoke extracted from the plume of propellants that contain aluminum, magnesi um, or zirconium carbide. A genetic algorithm is used to find the theo retical scattering pattern that best fits the measured scattering patt ern. The measurements presented in this article were not made in situ, and so the results do not accurately reflect the optical properties a nd size distribution parameters of smoke found in rocket motors and pl umes. However, the retrieved optical properties are in agreement with values available in the literature, and the retrieved size distributio ns are consistent with expectations based on analysis of the sampling method. Therefore, it is clear that the proposed inversion algorithm c ould be used to determine the optical properties and size distribution parameters from in situ light-scattering measurements if such measure ments were available.