Hot-Metal Simulating Igniter for In-Bed Thermal Initiation of Granular Charges

Abstract

An igniter simulating the effects of penetrating hot-metal fragments into a granular propellant bed was designed, constructed, and tested. This primer was designed to facilitate the characterization of the ignition and early-time combustion processes in a large-caliber propellant charge confined in a closed chamber which was initiated by an in-bed hot ignition source. The primer was used to simulate the situation when charge ignition occurs by a hot fragment that penetrated the chamber wall and remained within the propellant bed. Experiments showed that an igniter composed of micron-sized particle thermite powder (Al/Fe2O3) surrounded by ball powder propellant contained in a cloth tube initiated simultaneously by multiple electrical matches was capable of providing proper ignition stimulus to the propellant charge.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Aug 01, 2010
Accession Number
ADA528761

Entities

People

  • Stephen L. Howard

Organizations

  • United States Army Research Laboratory

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Ball Powder Propellants
  • Combustion
  • Igniters
  • Ignition
  • Ignition Lag
  • Materials
  • Metals
  • Military Research
  • Mixtures
  • Particle Size
  • Particles
  • Propellants
  • Propelling Charges
  • Shipping
  • Shipping Containers
  • Simulators
  • Thermites

Fields of Study

  • Physics

Readers

  • Explosive Engineering.
  • Rocket Propulsion.