AN INVESTIGATION OF THE EFFECT OF ACCELERATION ON THE BURNING RATE OF COMPOSITE PROPELLANTS

Abstract

The average burning rates of composite solid rocket propellants were measured in acceleration fields up to 2000 times the standard acceleration of gravity. The acceleration vector was perpendicular to and into the burning surface. Propellant strands were burned in a combustion bomb mounted on a centrifuge, and surge tanks were employed to ensure essentially constant pressure burning at 500, 1000, and 1500 psia. The burning rates of both aluminized and non-aluminized composite propellants were found to depend on acceleration. The effect of acceleration on burning rate was found to depend on the burning rate of the propellant without acceleration, aluminum mass loading, and aluminum mass median particle size. The relative burning rate increase was foundto be greater for slow burning propellants than for faster burning propellants. The experimental results are compared with two models proposed by other investigators. The results indicate that more complex modeling will be required to explain the observed acceleration effects.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Aug 01, 1966
Accession Number
AD0484780

Entities

People

  • James B. Anderson

Organizations

  • Naval Postgraduate School

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Burning Rate
  • Chemical Reactions
  • Chemical Synthesis
  • Chemistry
  • Combustion
  • Composite Materials
  • Composite Propellants
  • Heat Transfer
  • Material Degradation Processes
  • Materials
  • Materials Laboratories
  • Materials Processing
  • Materials Science
  • Measurement
  • Plastic Explosives
  • Rocket Propellants
  • Solid Propellants

Fields of Study

  • Physics

Readers

  • Atmospheric Science / Meteorology, specifically Wind Wave Turbulence.
  • Control Systems Engineering.
  • Rocket Propulsion.