Aluminized composite solid-propellant burning rates in acceleration fields

The average burning rates of a parametric series of propellants were determined in acceleration fields up to 1000 g using a combustion bomb mounted on a centrifuge. The propellant strands were burned at 500, 1000, and 1500 psia with the acceleration field directed normal and into the burning surface. Acceleration caused a time-dependent increase of as much as 100% in the burning rate of relatively slow-burning aluminized propellants. The relative amount of burning-rate increase for the various propellants was strongly dependent on the amount of aluminum retained on the propellant surface during burning. The burning rates of two very fast-burning propellants were found to be essentially accelerationindependent. OLID-PROPELLANT rocket motors are currently being used in applications which subject the metallized propellant grains to acceleration fields. The propellant burning rates increase appreciably when the acceleration field is imposed normal and into the burning surface.1'2 Postfire inspections of motors containing metallized propellants have revealed the presence of metal and/or metal oxide residue in the motor cases. The propellant burning-rate increase and the retention of residue appear to be interrelated. The review and abstracting of the literature on the effects of acceleration on solid-propell ant performance are presented in Refs. 3 and 4. Although progress has been made toward an understanding of some aspects of burning-rate augmentation in acceleration fields, it was believed that additional experimental studies with well-controlled propellant parameters would yield valuable insight. A parametric series of aluminized propellants was formulated to establish the importance of some of the propellant parameters that could be controlled to minimize the effects of acceleration. The objectives of this investigation were twofold. The first objective was to obtain the quantitative effect of acceleration on the burning rate of the propellants as a function of propellant composition, acceleration level, and time. The second objective was to obtain quantitative information on the amount of aluminum and/or aluminum oxide residue retained in the inhibitor case as a function of propellant -composition, acceleration level, pressure level, and propellant burning rate.