Mechanism of Combustion of Heterogeneous Solid Propellants

• Main Authors: Price, E. W, Sigman, R. K, Chakravarthy, S. R, Chaing, H. J, Lee, S. T
• Format: Report
• Language: English
• Subjects: AP-HC BINDER PROPELLANTS; BINDERS; BURNING RATE; CATALYSIS; COMBUSTION; Combustion and Ignition; COMPOSITE PROPELLANTS; COMPUTATIONS; COMPUTER PROGRAMS; DECOMPOSITION; DIFFUSION; DIFFUSION FLAMES; FLAMES; FLOW; HIGH PRESSURE; IRON OXIDES; LAMINA; MELTING; OXIDIZERS; SOLID PROPELLANTS; Solid Rocket Propellants

The objective of the research is to establish the processes in solid propellant combustion that control steady and nonsteady combustion rate (composite propellants). The practical goal is to: 1. Tailor burning rate by variation of formulation (oxidizer particle size, ballistic modifiers, and choice of binders). This includes learning what processes lead to low or negative sensitivity of burning rate to pressure increase (plateau and mesa burning). 2. Determine steps in the combustion process that are most responsive to oscillatory flows (combustion instability). 3. Evaluate the combustion characteristics of new oxidizer and binder ingredients, and of propellants that include new ingredients (and compare results with those of AP oxidizer and Ap/hydrocarbon binder propellants). 4. Develop a realistic qualitative model of the combustion process that would identify the requirements for formulation of realistic analytical models.