A Study on Low Melting Point Thermoplastic Solid Propellant

Abstract

The next generation solid propellant must fulfill the demand of low cost, and one of the prospective options is to use low melting temperature thermoplastic as a fuel binder. Continuous and small scale processing is possible for low melting temperature thermoplastic solid propellants (LTP) because of its easy manufacture process, which enables the elimination of large scale manufacturing facilities and the storage of propellants in small pieces. The latter enhances the flexibility of the manufacture schedule, and both of them will bring low cost of solid propellant, and LTP can be a part of the solution for the next generation solid launchers. Thermoplastics developed by KATAZEN have enough elastomeric properties and were evaluated as a fuel binder. Linear burning rate characteristics, mechanical properties of these LTPs are presented in this paper and discussions are made for the real applications.