Rocket temperature sensitivity

It was soon realized that platonized propellants, with their reduced temperature sensitivity in the plateau- and mesa-burning range, could be effectively used to minimize the sensitivity of the performance of a rocket to the temperature of the environment. Much work has been devoted to understanding the mechanism of plateau and mesa burning, with a view to optimizing the performance characteristics of rocket motors. 

When HNF or ADN particles are mixed with a GAP copolymer containing aluminum particles, HNF-GAP and ADN-GAP composite propellants are formed, respectively. A higher theoretical specific impulse is obtained as compared to those of aluminized AP-HTPB composite propellants.However, the ballistic properties of ADN, HNIW, and HNF composite propellants, such as pressure exponent, temperature sensitivity, combustion instability, and mechanical properties, still need to be improved if they are to be used as rocket propellants. 

A change of burning rate resulting from a change of initial propellant temperature changes the equilibrium pressure, p in a rocket motor. Thus, one needs to introduce the temperature sensitivity of pressure in the combustion chamber, itj , which is defined similarly to o ... 

Fig. 14.10 Pressure increase in a rocket motor versus pressure exponent of burning rate as a function of temperature sensitivity.

The burning rate of propellants is one of the important parameters for the design of rocket motors. The burning rate is obtained as a function of pressure and of initial temperature, from which pressure exponent of burning rate and temperature sensitivity of burning rate are deduced. 

Hexanitrostilbene or HNS (C14H6N6012) is a heat-resistant yellow crystalline solid explosive. HNS is also resistant to radiation, insensitive to electric sparks, and less sensitive to impact than tetryl. It is used in heat-resistant booster explosives and has been used in stage separations in space rockets and for seismic experiments on the moon. Its melting temperature is 316 °C.12... 

---