NC-TMETN Propellants

TMETN is a liquid at room temperature and the production process of NG-TMETN propellants is the same as that described for NG-NG propellants. The shock sensitivity of TM ETN is sufficiently lower than that of NG that no desensitizers are needed for NC-TMETN propellants. Instead of the DEP or TA used as low energy density plasticizers and stabilizers of NC-NG propellants, TMETN is mixed with TEGDN, which is a dinitrate ester and hence a relatively high energy density material. Thus, the overall energy density of double-base propellants composed of NC-TMETN is equivalent to or even higher than that of NC-NG double-base propellants. 

Table 6.5 Chemical compositions (% by mass) and thermochemical properties of NC-NG and NC-TMETN propellants.

Fig. 6.23 shows a comparison of the burning rates of catalyzed NC-NG and NC-TMETN propellants. As shown in Table 6.8, the chemical compositions of both propellants contain equal quantities of the same catalysts. The burning rates of the non-catalyzed NC-NG and NC-TMETN propellants are shown in Fig. 6.18. The energy densities of the two catalyzed propellants are approximately equal.

NG and NC-TMETN are not quite the same due to small differences in chemical structure and in the energy levels of the propellants, the burning characteristics of NC-NG and NC-TMETN propellants are broadly similar and the action of the catalysts in terms of producing super-rate, plateau, and mesa burning is the same for both propellants. 

The burning rate of the NC-NG propellant is higher than that of the NC-TMETN propellant in the pressure range between 0.1 MPa and 10 MPa. However, the pres-... 

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