Burning Characteristics and Mechanical Properties of AP/HTPB Propellant Containing Glycerin as a Plasticizer

Abstract

The improvement of the performance of composite propellant has been required due to the development of a wide variety of rockets and missiles. Glycerin has three oxygen atoms in its molecular structure, and it is a safe and low-viscosity material. Therefore, it is expected that glycerin would be one of candidates as a plasticizer of an AP/HTPB based-propellant. The burning characteristics and the mechanical properties of AP/HTPB propellant containing glycerin were investigated in this study. The viscosity of the uncured propellant containing glycerin was lower than that without glycerin. The tensile properties were improved with the small added quantity of glycerin. The burning rate of the propellant at 70%AP increased with the addition of glycerin and the propellant containing glycerin had a plateau burning characteristics. It was found that the addition of glycerin as a plasticizer would be an effective way to improve the burning characteristics, mechanical properties, and processability of the AP/HTPB propellant.