STM Journals Peer-reviewed research from Consortium e-Learning Network

Journal of Polymer & Composites Original Research Special issue

Characterization of Thermochemical Properties and Combustion Behavior In AP/HTPB Polymer Composite Solid Propellant for Enhanced Performance

  1. P.N. Kadiresh Department of Aerospace Engineering, B.S. Abdur Rahman Crescent Institute of Science and Technology, Vandalur, Chennai
  2. K. Raja Department of Mechanical Engineering, Vel Tech Rangarajan Dr Sagunthala R&D Institute of Science and Technology, Avadi, Chennai
  3. S.P. Venkatesan Department of Mechanical Engineering, Sathyabama Institute of Science and Technology, Chennai

Abstract

The thermal decomposition of solid propellants containing hydroxyl-terminated polybutadiene (HTPB) binder is a complex process, driven by multiple interacting chemical and physical factors. Solid propellant combustion characteristics are profoundly influenced by the composition of the propellant, the conditions of pressure, the starting temperature, and a range of aero-thermochemical parameters. The paper explores the influence of polymeric structure in the HTPB binder on thermal decomposition characteristics of the AP/HTPB composite propellants and correlates material properties to superior performance results in composite formulations of relevance to aerospace applications. In this study, the thermal decomposition of AP/HTPB based propellant samples are analyzed through thermo-gravimetric analysis and differential thermal analysis traces were obtained on a simultaneous thermal analyzer. Thermogravimetric analysis facilitates the investigation of decomposition kinetics in solid rocket propellants. Thermogravimetric analysis is executed to assess the thermal decomposition behaviors of propellants samples across a temperature range of 27℃ to 927 ℃ at different heating rates. Propellant samples weighing 2.5 mg to 3 mg have been used for the analysis. The rate at which a solid composite propellant burns is a crucial ballistic characteristic, closely linked to the highest decomposition temperature seen in particular formulations of the propellant. The activation energy, inferred from the slope of the Kissinger plot, was found to be 230.64 kJ/mol.

Keywords

References (38)

  1. Alsaidi SB, Huh J, Selim MYE. Combustion of Date Stone and Jojoba Solid Waste in a Hybrid Rocket-like Combustion Chamber. Aerospace. 2024;11(3):181. doi:10.3390/aerospace11030181
  2. Liang J, Nie J, Zhang H, Guo X, Yan S, Han M. Interaction mechanism of composite propellant components under heating conditions. Polymers. 2023;15(11):2485.
  3. Jiang Y, Leem J, Robinson AM, Wu S, Huynh AH, Ka D, Zheng X. Tailoring the mechanical and combustion performance of B/HTPB composite solid fuel with covalent interfaces. Composites Science and Technology. 2024;245:110350.
  4. Yuan J, Liu J, Zhou Y, Zhang Y, Cen K. Thermal decomposition and combustion characteristics of Al/AP/HTPB propellant. Journal of Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry. 2021;143:3935-3944.
  5. Hong A. The Effects of Density on Burning Rates of AP/HTPB Composite Solid Propellants. 2022.
  6. Bernigaud P, Davidenko D, Catoire L. Heterogeneous Combustion of AP/HTPB/RDX Propellants with Detailed Kinetics. Aerospace Europe Conference. 2023:1-15. doi:10.13009/EUCASS2023-332.
  7. Mohammed Iqbal CL, Kumar S, Chakravarthy SR, Jayaganthan R, Sarathi R, Srinivasan A. Study of burning rate characteristics of propellants containing Al-Mg alloy nanopowder. NANOX. 2024:1-14.
  8. Chandrababu P, Thankarajan J, Sukumaran Nair V, Raghavan R. Decomposition of ammonium perchlorate: Exploring catalytic activity of nanocomposites based on nano Cu/Cu2O dispersed on graphitic carbon nitride. Thermochimica Acta. 2020;691:178720. doi:10.1016/j.tca.2020.178720
  9. Dillier CAM, Petersen ED, Petersen EL. Isolating the effects of oxidizer characteristics and catalytic additives on the high-pressure exponent break of AP/HTPB-Composite propellants. Proceedings of the Combustion Institute. 2021;38(3):4409-4416. doi:10.1016/j.proci.2020.08.008
  10. Dong G, Liu H, Deng L, Yu H, Zhou X, Tang X, et al. Study on the interfacial interaction between ammonium perchlorate and hydroxyl-terminated polybutadiene in solid propellants by molecular dynamics simulation. e-Polymers. 2022;22(1):264-275. doi:10.1515/epoly-2022-0016
  11. Elbasuney S, Yehia M. Thermal decomposition of ammonium perchlorate catalyzed with CuO nanoparticles. Defence Technology. 2019;15(6):868-874. doi:10.1016/j.dt.2019.03.004
  12. Galwey AK, Jacobs PWM. The thermal decomposition of ammonium perchlorate in the presence of manganese dioxide. Transactions of the Faraday Society. 1959;55:1165. doi:10.1039/tf9595501165
  13. Galwey AK, Jacobs PWM. 974. The thermal explosion of ammonium perchlorate. Journal of the Chemical Society (Resumed). 1960:5031. doi:10.1039/jr9600005031
  14. Han K, Zhang X, Deng P, Jiao Q, Chu E. Study of the thermal catalysis decomposition of ammonium perchlorate-based molecular perovskite with titanium carbide MXene. Vacuum. 2020;180:109572. doi:10.1016/j.vacuum.2020.109572
  15. Hashim SA, Karmakar S, Roy A, Abubakar M. Evaluation of Boron Combustion for Ducted Rocket Applications Using Condensed Product Analysis. Defence Science Journal. 2024;74(2):278-287. doi:10.14429/dsj.74.18685
  16. Jos J, Mathew S. Ammonium Nitrate as an Eco–Friendly Oxidizer for Composite Solid Propellants: Promises and Challenges. Critical Reviews in Solid State and Materials Sciences. 2016;42(6):470-498. doi:10.1080/10408436.2016.1244642
  17. Krishnan S, Swami RD. Effect of Burning Rate Modifiers on Subatmospheric Flame Temperatures of AP/HTPB Composite Solid Propellants. Defence Science Journal. 1998;48(2):211-217. doi:10.14429/dsj.48.3901
  18. Lim D, Gnanaprakash K, Rajak R, Yoh JJ. Characterization of the combustion behaviour of electrically-controlled solid propellant with tungsten as metal additive.
  19. Liu XL, Hu SQ, Liu LL, Zhang Y. Condensed Combustion Products Characteristics of HTPB/AP/Al Propellants under Solid Rocket Motor Conditions. Aerospace. 2022;9(11):677. doi:10.3390/aerospace9110677
  20. Lysien K, Stolarczyk A, Jarosz T. Solid Propellant Formulations: A Review of Recent Progress and Utilized Components. Materials. 2021;14(21):6657. doi:10.3390/ma14216657
  21. Nagendra K, Vijay C, Ingole M, Ramakrishna PA. Combustion of Ammonium Perchlorate monopropellant: Role of heat loss. Combustion and Flame. 2019;209:363-375. doi:10.1016/j.combustflame.2019.08.004
  22. Norouzi M, Tahernejad M, Ghorban Hosseini S, Tavangar S. Taguchi Optimization of Solvent‐Antisolvent Crystallization to Prepare Ammonium Perchlorate Particles. Chemical Engineering & Technology. 2020;43(11):2215-2223. doi:10.1002/ceat.202000180
  23. Olsen SE, Beckstead MW. Burn time measurements of single aluminum particles in steam and CO2 mixtures. Journal of Propulsion and Power. 1996;12(4):662-671. doi:10.2514/3.24087
  24. Park S, Choi S, Kim K, Kim W, Park J. Effects of Ammonium Perchlorate Particle Size, Ratio, and Total Contents on the Properties of a Composite Solid Propellant. Propellants, Explosives, Pyrotechnics. 2020;45(9):1376-1381. doi:10.1002/prep.202000055
  25. Pisharath S, Ang HG. Synthesis and thermal decomposition of GAP–Poly(BAMO) copolymer. Polymer Degradation and Stability. 2007;92(7):1365-1377. doi:10.1016/j.polymdegradstab.2007.03.016
  26. Rosen G. Burning Rates of Solid Propellants. The Journal of Chemical Physics. 1960;32(1):89-93. doi:10.1063/1.1700952
  27. Ruesch MD, Powell MS, Satija A, Ruesch JP, Vuppuluri VS, Lucht RP, et al. Burning rate and flame structure of cocrystals of CL-20 and a polycrystalline composite crystal of HMX/AP. Combustion and Flame. 2020;219:129-135. doi:10.1016/j.combustflame.2020.04.009
  28. Shen R, Ye Y, Wang C, Ru C, Dai J. Chemical Propulsion of Microthrusters. Nanomaterials in Rocket Propulsion Systems. 2019:389-402. doi:10.1016/b978-0-12-813908-0.00010-1
  29. Stone RL. Differential Thermal Analysis by the Dynamic Gas Technique. Analytical Chemistry. 1960;32(12):1582-1588. doi:10.1021/ac60168a011
  30. Sun D, Li Y, Liu P, Chen B, Fan W. Numerical Investigation on the Effect of Ammonium Perchlorate Content and Position on the Combustion Characteristics of an Ammonium Perchlorate/Hydroxyl-Terminated Polybutadiene Propellant. Aerospace. 2023;10(8):692. doi:10.3390/aerospace10080692
  31. Sun Y, Li S. The effect of nitrate esters on the thermal decomposition mechanism of GAP. Journal of Hazardous Materials. 2008;154(1-3):112-117. doi:10.1016/j.jhazmat.2007.10.002
  32. Usman M, Yu H, Wang L, Qian J, Li X, Khan A, et al. Synthesis of poly(2-(methacryloyloxy) ethyl ferrocene carboxylate-co-methacrylic acid)s and their anti-migration and burning rate catalytic properties. Journal of Organometallic Chemistry. 2020;923:121412. doi:10.1016/j.jorganchem.2020.121412
  33. Vellaisamy U, Biswas S. Effect of metal additives on neutralization and characteristics of AP/HTPB solid propellants. Combustion and Flame. 2020;221:326-337. doi:10.1016/j.combustflame.2020.08.006
  34. Volkova NN, Dubovitskii VA, Zholudev AF, Zaslavskii GE, Kazakov AI, Kislov MB, et al. Kinetics of Thermal Decomposition of Solid Propellant Based on Aluminum and Ammonium Perchlorate. Russian Journal of Applied Chemistry. 2019;92(11):1558-1569. doi:10.1134/s1070427219110132
  35. Wang M, Du S, Yan J. Study on the extraction of AP components in HTPB solid propellant by water/ethanol recovery. AIP Conference Proceedings. 2017;1890:040006. doi:10.1063/1.5005208
  36. Xue X, Yu Y, Ye R. Unsteady chemical kinetics behavior of AP/HTPB propellant with micro-scale model. Combustion Science and Technology. 2018;190(12):2164-2187. doi:10.1080/00102202.2018.1494594
  37. You JS, Kang SC, Kweon SK, Kim HL, Ahn YH, Noh ST. Thermal decomposition kinetics of GAP ETPE/RDX-based solid propellant. Thermochimica Acta. 2012;537:51-56. doi:10.1016/j.tca.2012.02.032
  38. Zhang Y, Cang Y, Yang S, Wang L. Heterogeneous propellant combustion with conjugated interface conditions. Computers & Fluids. 2022;240:105397. doi:10.1016/j.compfluid.2022.105397
Support