Experimental Combustion Studies of Two-Dimensional Ammonium Perchlorate-Binder Sandwiches

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Abstract
In order to obtain information essential to the future success of analytical modeling of solid propellant combustion, an experimental investigation was conducted using the quench combustion of two-dimensional propellant sandwiches prepared with AP oxidizer and four conventional propellant binders—polysulfide (PS), polyurethane (PU), polybutadiene acrylic acid (PBAA), and carboxy terminated polybutadiene (CTPB). Propellant sandwiches, prepared with both single crystal sheets and compacted polycrystalline sheets, were burned and quenched at combustion pressure levels from 300 psig (20 kg/sq cm) to 2400 psig (163 kg/sq cm) for a range of binder lamination thicknesses varying between 25 and 200 microns. The features of the quenched sandwiches indicate that there is considerable interplay between the binder and oxidizer species on the oxidizer portion of the sandwich surface, primarily through the ability of the binder to form a flowable melt prior to gasification; sandwiches prepared with all four fuels were observed to form a surface melt during combustion at every pressure level. Mass flux data generated during the investigation indicate that all four fuels were effective in increasing the AP deflagration rate in the high pressure region where the AP burning rate versus pressure curve possesses a negative slope.

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