Flamespreading in Granular Solid Propellant: Design of an Experiment
Abstract
When flamespreading in a gun system is rapid and reproducible, there is little incentive to improve our fundamental understanding of the ignition and flamespreading process. However, low-vulnerability (LOVA) propellants which are deliberately difficult to ignition can sometimes lead to anomalous ignition and flamespreading behavior. The present investigation is an attempt to study the fundamental behavior in a packed bed of granular gun propellant with a laboratory simulator. The apparatus consists of a hollow cylindrical pipe divided into two chambers. A small quantity of ball powder is burned in the igniter chamber sealed by a diaphragm and multiple-nozzle plate from the flow chamber which contains the sample granular solid propellant. Once the diaphragm bursts, combustion gases initially confined in the igniter chamber are driven through the nozzle plate forming a hot-gas planar wave which then propagates through the flow chamber. Behavior of this apparatus is discussed along with experimental pressure time-histories when the chamber is (a) empty and (b) filled with inert granular propellant. Results from a theoretical model help interpret some of the behavior.... Ignition, Ignition studies, Packed bed, Flamespreading, Solid propellants, Simulators
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jun 01, 1993
- Accession Number
- ADA266009
Entities
People
- Douglas E. Kooker
- Lang-mann Chang
- Stephen L. Howard
Organizations
- United States Army Research Laboratory