Characterization of Aluminum Powders: III. Non‐Isothermal Oxidation and Combustion of Modern Aluminized Solid Propellants with Nanometals and Nanooxides

Abstract

Aluminum powders were comprehensively described as the prospective ingredients of the modern propellants. The paper also studied the influence of micro-and nanopowders of metals (μ-Me and n-Me) and metal oxides (μ-MeO and n-MeO) on the burning process of modern aluminized propellant with HMX, CL-20, AP, and active binder. The following metal additives were used: Al, B, Zn, Ni, Co, and Mo. The effect of the following oxides CoO, V 2 O 5 , MnO 2, and Fe 2 O 3 was studied together with LiF. The combustion tests of modified propellant compositions were carried out in the Vielle bomb in a pressure range 2-10 MPa. n-Me addition resulted in an increase in the burning rate by 10 % for n-B, by 30-40 % for n-Ni and n-Mo in the studied pressure range. The introduction of n-Cu caused a burning rate to increase fivefold. n-Zn additive resulted in increasing of the propellant burning rate by 130 % and 260 % at 4 and 10 MPa, respectively. It was probably caused by the catalytic activity of those metals in the gaseous phase. The effect of complex additive was observed to be insignificant for additives with μ-Co 3 O 4 , μ-V 2 O 5 , μ-Fe 2 O 3 and n-Fe 2 O 3 . The burning rate of propellant with n-CuO additive value was higher by a factor of 4 in comparison with the basic formulation in the studied pressure range.

Characterization of Aluminum Powders: IV. Effect of Nanometals on the Combustion of Aluminized Ammonium Nitrate‐Based Solid Propellants

“…The efficiency of metals during the combustion of formulation #1 did not coincide with their activity in formulation #2. So, n‐Zn and n‐Ni, which are known to react with AN with high heat release according to literature data [30], did not have a significant effect on the combustion rate of the experimental compositions studied (Figure 5). At the same time, n‐Cu and n‐Mo powders actively reacting with AN increased the burning rate in the entire pressure range (Table 4).…”

“…heat release according to literature data [30], did not have a significant effect on the combustion rate of the experimental compositions studied ( Figure 5). At the same time, n-Cu and n-Mo powders actively reacting with AN increased the burning rate in the entire pressure range (Table 4).…”

“…The results are also compared with formulations studied earlier [29, 30] due to their similarity with those presented in this article. These compositions will be referred to as formulation #3 (Table 3).…”

“…* The mixture of two powder fractions (see Table 2) with a 3 : 1 mass ratio was used. ** The composition of formulation #3 is given for information and was taken from [30].…”

“…The current study is the continuation of our previously published article [29] on the effect of metal additives on the aluminized AP‐based SP combustion. In [29] and [30] the possibility of adjusting the burning characteristics of AP/HMX‐based SP using metal and metal oxide additives was studied. In the present article, the effect of binder and metal additives on the burning rate of two aluminized AN‐based SP formulations with different AN content is studied.…”