Evaluation of Composite Propellants Utilizing Various Nano-Scale Aluminum and Boron Incorporation Methods
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2019, American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Inc, AIAA. All rights reserved. In this study, aluminum-coated boron particles were synthesized in HTPB at varying ratios of aluminum to boron and then added at 0.75% by mass to 85% bimodal AP/HTPB-composite propellants. Additional 85% bimodal propellants with wet-mixed, nanoscale boron and dry-powder nano aluminum at the same mass loadings were also tested for comparison along with a 0.75%-wt magnesium-boron formulation. The samples were tested between 500 and 2250 psi in a constant-volume pressure vessel using nichrome wire ignition. Results showed no change in burning rate for the propellants with 0.75%-wt, wet-mixed, nanoscale boron. Similarly, the aluminum-coated boron particles with the highest boron concentrations did not significantly increase the burning rate. In contrast, the magnesium-boron and wet-mixed boron with dry-powder nano-aluminum formulations produced modest increases in burning rates compared to the baseline. The most promising formulation in terms of burning rate improvement was the 0.15%-wt boron and 0.60%-wt aluminum-coated particles, which increased the burning rates by 54%.
