Ballistic effectiveness of Zr-containing composite solid propellants as a function of binder nature and mass fraction

Abstract

This paper considers the e¨ects of binder mass fraction on the properties of energetic formulations based on zirconium and zirconium hydride. These ingredients, replacing aluminum in solid rocket motors with low vehicle performance coe©cient, may increase the propellant ballistic e¨ectiveness, thanks to the resulting higher density and notwithstanding their lower speci¦c impulse. The propellant ballistic e¨ectiveness is estimated via the vehicle velocity achieved using the propellant under analysis in a real vehicle. For each speci¦c mission, the binder content can be varied to provide the optimal relationship between energetic and physical-mechanical properties, that is, one may sacri¦ce energy in favor of rheological and physicomechanical properties (increasing binder mass fraction), or vice versa. NOMENCLATURE SymbolsF V /M ¦n , vehicle performance coe©cient g 0 Reference gravity acceleration I ef E¨ective speci¦c impulse (see Eq. (1)) I sp Speci¦c impulse