Relationship between the Limiting Pressure and the Solid Temperature for the Deflagration of Ammonium Perchlorate

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Abstract
A new experimental method has been used to measure the relationship between the limiting pressure for deflagration and the initial solid temperature of single crystals and pressed pellets of ammonium perchlorate (AP). The technique depends upon setting a known linear temperature gradient of 10°–20°C/cm along the length of a sample pressurized in nitrogen or helium so that the warmer end of the AP sample could sustain deflagration, but the cooler end could not. The warmer end is then ignited, and essentially steady-state deflagration propagates through the solid until the limiting solid temperature corresponding to the set pressure is reached. The length remaining unburned determines the limiting solid temperature. At solid temperatures between − 40°– + 50°C the limiting pressure fell essentially linearly from 385–225 psia, and above this solid temperature the limiting pressure appeared to be asymptotically approaching a minimum value. Since the results were the same for AP single crystals and pressed pellets in both nitrogen and helium, this limiting condition appears to be a unique property of ammonium perchlorate. These data provide a basis for uniting theories of AP ignition and deflagration.

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