The Effects of Ferrocenic and Carborane Derivative Burn Rate Catalysts in AP Composite Propellant Combustion: Mechanism of Ferrocene-Catalysed Combustion.
Abstract
The combustion of HTPB/AP propellants containing ferrocene-type and carborane-type burn rate catalysts was examined. The ferrocenic catalysts are good burn rate enhancers, but the carborane-type compounds showed little improvement, even at 3% catalyst concentration. An order of relative catalyst effectiveness was established for 1% catalyst concentration at 20 deg C. Examination reveals the enhancing effect of 1% Catocene is approximately equivalent to 0.5% Butacene. Characteristic surface features observed for the carborane- catalysed propellants contrast to those for the ferrocene-catalysed propellants. For ferrocene-catalysed combustion, the experimental evidence is in favour of a mechanism whereby the ferrocenic catalyst acts in the binder to catalyse the heterogeneous reactions between the binder and the AP at the binder/oxidiser interface. The evidence includes the following: (1) Enhanced burn rates of the Butacene propellant over the Catocene propellant, both propellants containing the same amount of iron in the ferrocenic catalysts; (2) Fe particles dispersed in the binder of the quenched propellant surface; (3) undercuttings along the boundaries of surface AP particles; and (4) the convex, protruding (sometimes apparently intact) AP particle surface. There was no evidence of the catalyst promoting surface AP decomposition reactions. p50
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Aug 01, 1995
- Accession Number
- ADA311583
Entities
People
- Thanh Nguyen
Organizations
- Defence Science and Technology Group