Reduced Agglomeration Resulting From Nickel Coating of Aluminum Particles in Solid Propellants

This paper examines the effects of nickel coating of aluminum particles on the combustion of aluminized solid propellants. High-speed photography is used in order to capture propellant combustion in various operating pressures. Data analysis reveals a dramatic reduction in the median diameter of ejected particles when nickel-coated aluminum is employed in the propellant. A theoretical model is introduced based on previous works, predicting a decrease in ignition time for aluminum particles coated with nickel. The model indicates that shorter ignition time should lead to the reduction of the agglomeration phenomena, and to a decrease of ejected aluminum agglomerates, in agreement with the experimental findings.