Refinement of Propellant Strand Burning Method to Suit Aluminised Composite Rocket Propellant
Abstract
An epoxy coating was trialled as an inhibitor for composite rocket propellant strands burned in a Crawford-style bomb. The epoxy coating performed at least as well as the traditional paint coating and produced a virtually identical burn rate law. Burn rate results for epoxy coated strands were insensitive to strand preparation technique such as bevelling of the strand and de-dusting, thus demonstrating a robust inhibitor system. Acceptable robustness of the epoxy coating was demonstrated when applied to aluminised composite rocket propellant with no spurious results recorded. Accuracy and precision of results for all four batches of aluminised composite propellant were acceptable and at least as precise as historical results obtained with non-aluminised propellant inhibited with paint. A couple of methods for reducing effort while maintaining sufficient accuracy of burn rate data were demonstrated. A single coating of epoxy as opposed to two provided sufficient inhibition and could almost halve combined preparation and coating time. Burning as little as 6 strands, one at each pressure across the range of interest, can provide a sufficiently accurate burn rate law during the early stages of propellant development.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Dec 01, 2014
- Accession Number
- ADA623831
Entities
People
- Garry Hale
- Paul C. Smith
- Raoul A. Pietrobon
Organizations
- Defence Science and Technology Group