Structural weight approximation for a bell-nozzle divergent section

In the preliminary design of missile systems it is necessary to consider the weight of the individual components which comprise the missile. The usual procedure in weight approximation is to consider that an article is composed of small regular-shaped bits, each of whose weights is easily found and whose sum approximates the weight of the total article. When the component is such an irregular shape that a simple approximation cannot be made, or where the number of digital operations is excessive, the estimation of its weight becomes a tedious procedure. In this report, a method is derived for approximating the structural weight of such an article, namely, the divergent section of a bell-shaped nozzle for a rocket motor.