HMX composite propellant

The effects of four types of binders, HTPS, HTPE, HTPA, and HTPB, on the burning rates of HMX composite propellants are shown in Fig. 7.33. The physicochemi-... 

The combustion wave structure of RDX composite propellants is homogeneous and the temperature in the solid phase and in the gas phase increases relatively smoothly as compared with AP composite propellants. The temperature increases rapidly on and just above the burning surface (in the dark zone near the burning surface) and so the temperature gradient at the burning surface is high. The temperature in the dark zone increases slowly. However, the temperature increases rapidly once more at the luminous flame front. The combustion wave structure of RDX and HMX composite propellants composed of nitramines and hydrocarbon polymers is thus very similar to that of double-base propellants composed of nitrate esters.[1 1... 

Fig. 7.36 Dependence of burning rate on pressure and temperature sensitivity thereof for an HMX composite propellant.

Fig. 7.38 Burning rates of HMX composite propellants as a function of adiabatic flame temperature or hmx showing the existence of a minimum in the burning rate at about hmx (0.6).

In order to avoid the use of lead compounds on environmental grounds, lithium fluoride (liF) has been chosen to obtain super-rate burning of nitramine composite propellants.P7281 Typical chemical compositions of HMX composite propellants-with and without liF are shown in Table 7.4. The non-catalyzed HMX propellant is used as a reference pyrolant to evaluate the effect of super-rate burning. The HMX particles are of finely divided, crystalline (3-HMX with a bimodal size distribution. Hydroxy-terminated polyether (HTPE) is used as a binder, the OH groups of which are cured with isophorone diisocyanate. The chemical properties of the HTPE binder are summarized in Table 7.5. 

HMX composite propellants are composed of crystalline HMX particles and polymeric materials, and so their physical structures are heterogeneous. On the other hand, nitropolymer propellants are composed of mixtures of nitrate esters such as NC and NG, and their physical structures are homogeneous. Moreover, HMX pro-... 

Fig. 7.46 Burning rate characteristics of non-catalyzed and catalyzed HMX composite propellants.

The combustion wave of an HMX composite propellant consists of successive re-achon zones the condensed-phase reachon zone, a first-stage reaction zone, a second-stage reaction zone, and the luminous flame zone. The combustion wave structure and temperature distribution for an HMX propellant are shown in Fig. 7.47. In the condensed-phase reaction zone, HMX particles melt together with the polymeric binder HTPE and form an energetic liquid mixture that covers the burning surface of the propellant. In the first-stage reaction zone, a rapid exother-... 

Table 7.8 Chemical compositions of AN-(BAMO-AMMO)-HMX composite propellants with and without burning rate catalysts.

The polymeric binders used for nitramine composite propellants are similar to those used for AP composite propellants, i. e. HTPB, HTPE, and GAP. The combustion performance and the products of HMX composite propellants are shown in Figs. 4.17 and 4.18, respectively. Here, the binder mixed with the HMX particles is GAP, as in the AN-GAP propellants shown in Fig. 4.16. Though the maximum Tf and f, are obtained at (HMX) = 1.0, the maximum HMX loading is less than 0.80for practical HMX-GAP propellants, at which fp = 250 s and 7 =... 

Fig. 7.37 Pressure exponent and temperature sensitivity of an HMX composite propellant as a function of...

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