Software for Predicting Behavior of a Pyrotechnic Actuator

A theoretical model that predicts the time-dependent behavior of a pyrotechnically actuated mechanism and a computer program that implements the model have been developed. The model and program are especially applicable to a pyrotechnic device known as the NASA Standard Initiator (NSI). Before this model and program were developed, the only principles that guided the design of pyrotechnically actuated mechanisms were those derived through empiricism.