The Effect of Different Copper Salts on the Mechanical and Ballistic Characteristics of Double Base Rocket Propellants

Abstract

This paper discusses the enhancement in the ballistic performance of double base rocket propellants (DBRPs) by the addition of different copper salts vs lead salts as burning rate modifiers through stable combustion and the formation of a plateau region in the low pressure region. Compositions based on DBRPs containing different percentages of lead stearate and different types of copper salts were prepared and studied. For comparison, a conventional DBRP was studied. The ignition temperature and heat of combustion were determined experimentally, and the mechanical properties were measured and evaluated. The performance in terms of ballistic characteristics (burning rate, operating pressure) were measured at different throat diameters (8, 8.5, 9, 9.5 mm) and at different temperatures (−20 and 50 °C). Specific impulses were calculated using the ICT thermodynamic code. The experimental data from the proportional study indicate that the compositions containing the studied burning rate modifiers are superior to the original DBRP in respect of ballistic performance and mechanical properties.

Development and Characterization of New Energetic Composites Based on HNTO/AN Co-Crystal and Nitro-Cellulosic Materials

“…In addition, it is interesting to note that the new elaborated energetic composites have superior D C-J values compared to those of triaminotrinitrobenzene (TATB: 7940 m/s), nitroglycerine (NG: 7700 m/s) [ 31 ], 1,3-difluoro-2,4,6-trinitrobenzene (DFTNB: 7800 m/s), trinitrotoluene (TNT: 6860 m/s) [ 32 ], and other aluminized explosives reported by Keshavarz et al [ 33 ]. In addition, it was found that the optimal NMCC@HNTO/AN composite displayed similar or slightly lower Isp than some of the commonly employed double-base propellants (220 s) [ 34 , 35 ], and other NC-based mixtures such as NC/GAP/LLM-105 (207 s) [ 36 ] and NC/HMX (232 s) [ 25 ]. Overall, these results demonstrate that the newly developed energetic composites can be used as promising systems in futuristic energetic formulations.…”

Elaboration, Characterization and Thermal Decomposition Kinetics of New Nanoenergetic Composite Based on Hydrazine 3-Nitro-1,2,4-triazol-5-one and Nanostructured Cellulose Nitrate

“…On the other hand, it is interesting to point out that the optimal D C-J of the designed composites is found to be better than that of some common explosives, including TNT (6900 m/s) [ 31 ], NG (7823 m/s) [ 32 ], HNS (7612 m/s) [ 33 ], and other aluminized- and ammonium nitrate-bonded explosives reported by Suceska et al [ 34 ]. With regard to the optimal specific impulse, it is found that the elaborated HNTO/NC and HNTO/NMCC composites deliver moderate I SP , which is comparable or slightly lower than some currently used homogenous and modified double base rocket propellants (220 s) [ 35 , 36 ], and other reported NC-based composites such as NC/GAP (205 s) [ 18 ], and NC/HMX (231 s) [ 20 ]. It is worth noting that the I SP of our designed composites can be significantly improved by the small addition of metal hybrids, which can offer extra oxidizing species that contribute to the total oxidation of the available fuel species, thus increasing the resulting ratio of combustion temperature to molar mass as demonstrated in our recent papers [ 30 , 37 ].…”

Reactive Nanocomposites as Versatile Additives for Composite Propellants

“…They were composed of nano‐powders of 70 wt‐% Al as the fuel and 30 wt‐% of CuO, Fe 2 O 3 , MoO 3 , or NiO as the oxidizer. The mechanical activation method was used for the preparation of the RNCs, following the general procedure which was previously outlined in the literature , , . A 20 g batch of each RNC was prepared.…”

“…However, a downside of using traditional metal oxides is their non‐energetic nature. As a result, recent studies were published in this area in order to develop new energetic burning catalysts …”