Combustion Characteristics of ADN (Ammonium Dinitramide) Based Solid Propellants

Abstract

Ammonium perchrolate (AP) is the most useful oxidizer for the solid rocket motors (SRMs) under the present situation, however it is also the source of the environmental pollution close to the launch site. It is well known that HCl is exhausted through the firing of SRMs and its concentration reaches approximately 10 to 20 mole percent of the total exhaust.`Environmentally friendly' and `High performance' are required for the next-generation SRMs. In this study, ammonium dinitramide (ADN), which has recently attracted attentions as a halogen-free oxidizer was employed for a substitution of AP and the combustion properties of the composite propellants were investigated. Thermoplastic elastomer (TP) and hydroxyl-terminated butadiene polymer (HTPB) were used as a binder for this research. Pyrotechnic sensitivity analysis was conducted to estimate the safety of TP/ADN propellants. Strand burning tests were also carried out for all samples and the burning rate and temperature profile were obtained through these experiments. It was found that the burning rate characteristics of ADN-based propellants were influenced by the binders.