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DOI: 10.1002/prep.201900324
Abstract: For enhanced range, higher payload capacities CEC-71 program and burning rate was measured in pres-
and for miniaturized propulsion systems, today’s strategic sure ranges of 3-7 and 7-11 MPa by the acoustic emission
and tactical weapon system designers demand for higher technique. In addition, density, viscosity build up, calori-
density and specific impulse of the propellant. In order to metric values, thermal decomposition and sensitivity pa-
enhance the density impulse of HTPB/DOA/RDX/AP/Al rameters of each composition were also assessed and com-
based composite propellant, studies have been carried to pared. In an outcome, it was concluded that HTBCP25/NG
replace conventional HTPB/DOA binder system with hy- based propellant compositions enhance the density by 4.4–
droxyl terminated block copolymer of polybutadiene and ɛ- 5 % and calorimetric values by 12–15 % as compared to
caprolactone with NG as plasticizer. Total eight numbers of HTPB/DOA based compositions. Strand burning rate data
compositions were formulated with varying content of show enhancement of burning rate by 40–70 % at 7 MPa
RDX. Both binder systems were compared in propellant pressure in HTBCP25/NG based compositions. Impact and
compositions by evaluating various physical, thermal and friction sensitivity data also revealed their utility in propel-
ballistic properties. Various rocket performance parameters lant compositions for future applications.
of each formulation were theoretically predicted by NASA
Keywords: HTBCP · Propellant Binder · Composite Propellant
Propellants Explos. Pyrotech. 2020, 45, 647–656 © 2019 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim 647
Full Paper H. Singh, D. Singh, D. Chimurkar, J. Upadhyay, A. Kumar, A. Kumar, S. Pande, P. More
648 www.pep.wiley-vch.de © 2019 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim Propellants Explos. Pyrotech. 2020, 45, 647–656
High Volumetric Specific Impulse Composite Propellant Based on Terminally Functionalized Block Copolymers of Polybutadiene and ɛ-Capro-
lactone
2.2 Propellant Formulations cast under vacuum by slurry cast technique [21]. The pro-
pellant was cured at 50 °C for 240 hours in a water jacketed
Basic information about the binders and plasticizers used in oven.
this study is given in Table 1 and 2. Total eight propellant
compositions were processed with aluminium as metallic
fuel and AP as oxidizer with varying percentage of RDX 3 Characterization Methods
from 0 to 15 %, two types of binder system combinations
i. e. HTPB/DOA and HTBCP25/NG were taken in this study 3.1 Viscosity Measurements
and various parameters of propellant formulations were in-
vestigated and compared keeping similar solid content in The EOM viscosity and viscosity build up of the propellant
compositions. Detailed propellant compositions are de- slurry was determined by Brookfield viscometer, model HBT
scribed in Table 3. dial type, by inserting T-C spindle at a rotating speed of
2.5 rpm at predetermined temperatures.
2.3 Processing
3.2 Density Measurements
Propellant compositions were mixed in the vertical plane-
tary mixer of 15 dm3 capacity. Propellant slurry of 10 kg was The density of cured propellants was determined by gas
pycnometer, Thermo-scientific, USA, using helium gas as a
medium at 30 °C.
Table 1. Properties of HTPB and HTBCP25.
Propellants Explos. Pyrotech. 2020, 45, 647–656 © 2019 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim www.pep.wiley-vch.de 649
Full Paper H. Singh, D. Singh, D. Chimurkar, J. Upadhyay, A. Kumar, A. Kumar, S. Pande, P. More
650 www.pep.wiley-vch.de © 2019 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim Propellants Explos. Pyrotech. 2020, 45, 647–656
High Volumetric Specific Impulse Composite Propellant Based on Terminally Functionalized Block Copolymers of Polybutadiene and ɛ-Capro-
lactone
4.2 Viscosity Build up and Density plications. There is approximately 4.4–5 % enhancement in
density observed in HTBCP/NG compositions against corre-
The EOM and viscosity build up with time is determined by sponding HTPB/DOA compositions e. g. maximum density
a Brookfield viscometer at 40 � 1 °C and density is measured of 1.822 was observed in composition II against 1.742 in
by gas pycnometer at 30 °C. The data obtained is presented composition I.
in Table 5. It is clearly evident from the data that HTBCP25/
NG based compositions are more viscous as compared to
corresponding HTPB/DOA compositions. However, for proc- 4.3 Effect on Ballistic Properties
essing point of view, viscosity levels are within the range of
acceptable limits even after 1 hour of build up. This shows Burning rates determined by acoustic emission technique
the usefulness of this binder system towards futuristic ap- under inert atmosphere at 3, 5, 7, 9 and 11 MPa are re-
ported in Table 6. It is shown that the HTBCP25/NG based
compositions II, IV, VI and VIII are having higher burning
rates than corresponding HTPB/DOA based compositions I,
III, V and VII. Figure 2 describes this behaviour, for example,
at 7 MPa pressure, approximately 70 % enhancement of
burning rates were observed in composition II compared to
composition I, 70 % higher in composition IV related to III,
50 % higher in composition VI in comparison to V and rela-
tively 42 % higher in composition VIII against composition
VII. Strong heat liberation in gas phase due to O NO2 bond
scission and accompanying oxidation of C, H, O species to
CO2, CO and H2O might be the prime reason for enhance-
ment of burning rate [28]. A similar trend was seen in all set
of compositions and at all pressure levels.
Pressure exponent values were determined from plots
in Figure 3 and 4 in lower (3–7 MPa) and higher (7–11 MPa)
Figure 2. Burning rate vs pressure.
pressure ranges and are tabulated in Table 6. Augmentation
of pressure exponent values were observed in HTBCP25/NG
based compositions as compared to HTPB/DOA composi-
Table 5. Data on end of mix viscosity, viscosity build up and den- tions. This increase becomes more and more pronounced at
sity of the studied compositions. the higher pressure range when the RDX content in compo-
sitions is increased. For example, maximum change in pres-
Composition EOM at Build-up after Density of cured
sure exponent value was observed in 7–11 MPa pressure
No. 50 °C 1 hour propellant
(Pa s) at 50 °C (Pa s) at 30 °C (g cm 3) range. It was enhanced from 0.232 to 0.452 in composition
VII and VIII respectively, where RDX content was 15 %. Sim-
I 256 448 1.742 ilar effects have been observed in the combustion mecha-
II 480 640 1.822 nism of double base propellant, when NO2 content is in-
III 448 576 1.738
IV 608 832 1.819
creased, on increasing pressure, the dark zone becomes
V 512 704 1.733 thinner and luminous zone approaches surface leading to
VI 800 1088 1.810 increase in heat feedback to condensed phase resulting in a
VII 704 864 1.719 higher burning rate. At low pressure, luminous flame zone
VIII 1056 1376 1.806 is further away from the regressive surface and burn rate is
Table 6. Data on burning rates and pressure exponents of the studied compositions.
Propellants Explos. Pyrotech. 2020, 45, 647–656 © 2019 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim www.pep.wiley-vch.de 651
Full Paper H. Singh, D. Singh, D. Chimurkar, J. Upadhyay, A. Kumar, A. Kumar, S. Pande, P. More
652 www.pep.wiley-vch.de © 2019 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim Propellants Explos. Pyrotech. 2020, 45, 647–656
High Volumetric Specific Impulse Composite Propellant Based on Terminally Functionalized Block Copolymers of Polybutadiene and ɛ-Capro-
lactone
position of NG. This leads to the formation of gaseous prod- 4.6 Sensitivity Properties
ucts of binder and oxidizer that would emit at lower tem-
perature and accordingly surface temperature would be The impact, friction sensitivities and auto ignition temper-
higher leading to increased burning rate. This phenomenon ature of cured propellant are determined and presented in
was not observed in compositions I, III, V and VII. Differ- Table 8. It is clear from the data that the HTBCP25/NG
ential thermogravimetric (DTG) plots are also showing this based compositions are more impact and friction sensitive
phenomenon by an initial decomposition peak at around than HTPB/DOA based compositions. As impact sensitivity
111–124 °C (Figure 7). Other decomposition steps similar in higher than 15 cm and friction sensitivity higher than 8 kg
compositions were: a) 200–218 °C is characteristic of RDX is considered as safe limits for mixing ingredients by verti-
decomposition, b) two peaks in region 291–370 °C are at- cal planetary mixer and vacuum casting by slurry cast tech-
tributed to the first and second decomposition peaks of AP, nique. Therefore, these compositions are well within the
c) 448–460 °C is due to pyrolysis of binder ingredients. TGA safe limits and do not pose any risk towards processing by
data shows, as the AP content of all compositions was re- these techniques. Auto ignition temperatures for all compo-
placed by incorporation of RDX, percentage weight loss in sitions are > 215 °C, which also confirm their utility and fu-
all major steps in all thermograms decreased accordingly. ture application without any safety hazard while processing
compositions by above mentioned techniques.
Propellants Explos. Pyrotech. 2020, 45, 647–656 © 2019 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim www.pep.wiley-vch.de 653
Full Paper H. Singh, D. Singh, D. Chimurkar, J. Upadhyay, A. Kumar, A. Kumar, S. Pande, P. More
654 www.pep.wiley-vch.de © 2019 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim Propellants Explos. Pyrotech. 2020, 45, 647–656
High Volumetric Specific Impulse Composite Propellant Based on Terminally Functionalized Block Copolymers of Polybutadiene and ɛ-Capro-
lactone
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FULL PAPER
H. Singh, D. Singh, D. Chimurkar, J.
Upadhyay, A. Kumar, A. Kumar, S.
Pande, P. More
647 – 656
High Volumetric Specific Impulse
Composite Propellant Based on Ter-
minally Functionalized Block Co-
polymers of Polybutadiene and ɛ-
Caprolactone