Design of New Polymer Binders for Additive Manufacturing

Abstract

Polymer binders are vital to both solid rocket propellant and explosive warhead formulations. Recently, the DoD has shown interest in additively manufactured warheads and solid rocket motors. While classical batch-process chemistry has a long working time to allow for mixing, degassing, and pouring, the ideal additive manufactured process would have little to no reactivity in the print nozzle head, and almost instantaneous conversion from a liquid to a solid structurecapable of holding is shape once printed. To achieve this new chemistry must be developed. As such, the overarching goal of the proposed work is to develop novel polymer binders that enable additive manufacturing. Specifically, the objective of this project is to design, study, and develop a new class of polymer binders that will afford the fundamental principles required to transitionfrom classical batch-process to additive manufacturing. The value of these studies is that they will provide the structure activity relationship required to improve binder properties, while also enabling access to systems compatible with additive manufacturing. It is expected that these studies will also enable advances in the Navy~s ability to design ~gradient~ formulations that willallow the formulator to change the composition of the energetic as it is printed, in previously uncastable shapes. This unrivaled control over structure holds tremendous promise for future Naval applications.

Document Details

Document Type
DoD Grant Award
Publication Date
Feb 07, 2019
Source ID
N000141912079

Entities

People

  • Javier Read de Alaniz

Organizations

  • Office of Naval Research
  • United States Navy
  • University of California, Santa Barbara

Tags

Fields of Study

  • Materials science

Readers

  • Manufacturing Engineering.
  • Research Science/Academic Research
  • Rocket Propulsion.