Investigation of the reason for the softening behaviour of solid propellants

✍ Scribed by Nuri Aksel; Christof Hübner

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1992
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 325 KB
• Volume: 17
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0721-3115
• DOI: 10.1002/prep.19920170412

✦ Synopsis

Abstract

Composite solid propellants consist of an elastomeric polymer binder in which various types of solid particles (oxidizer, fuel, combustion and stabilizing additives, etc.) are incorported. One of the most common state of the art binders is hydroxy‐terminated polybutadiene (HTPB). The mechanical properties and the damage behaviour of the solid propellant have important relevance for its application in a rocket motor. Therefore, in this work the softening of crosslinked filled polybutadienes as an effect of mechnical load, and the subsequent recovery were examined at small strains. The contributing factors to the softening are discussed in terms of macroscopic obervable phenomena and of microscopic and molecualr mechnisms which cause those phenomena. It is shown that most of the softening is recoverable because it is due to stress‐relaxation at the test conditions used.