The Inflagration On The Burning Rate Of Combustion Of Polymer

1131 Words3 Pages

Unfortunately, the majority of the polymer investigations cited have been performed under the classic conditions of slow heating rates or isothermal conditions in vacuum environments. However, the residence time of a polymer element at the solid surface during the normal ignition and combustion of a propellant is usually in the order of milliseconds. Further more, the pressure level is normally several hundred pounds per square inch in most actual combustion environments. Then the direct application of the low-pressure isothermal decomposition data to the propellant combustion may be questionable [34, 35].
Thermogravimetry (TG) has been extensively used for the determination of the thermal decomposition kinetics of polymeric binders. The kinetic …show more content…

Thus, the AP deflagration may be a well controlling factor for propellant burning rate. The deflagration of pure AP has been investigated intensively in an effort to gain a basic understanding of this process and hence of the combustion of rocket propellants which contain AP as the oxidizer. These studies have proceeded along two directions. The first concerned with investigation of pressure, additives and added radiant energy effects on the burning rate. The second study the deflagration process chemistry [33]. AP undergoes self-sustained combustion only at certain pressure ranges, giving rise to pressure limits. The existence of non-deflagration pressure range where steady deflagration does not occur is one of the most interesting aspects of AP deflagration which has so far managed to elude explanation. Generally, such a range is found to be below a certain pressure level known as the low-pressure deflagration limit (LPL) and above a certain pressure level known as upper-pressure deflagration limit (UPL). The LPL has greater practical importance and has been the subject of many studies. On the other hand, the UPL has not been systematically studied and supposed to exist at the upper level of combustion (detonation). According to many investigations, the average value of LPL was detected to be about 20 atm and burning rate under this condition is around 0.2-4.3 cm/s for single AP crystals or high density pellets. It was found that the LPL is insensitive to sample size and inert atmospheres. LPL increases as the (single) particle size is decreased, lowers as pre-heating, rises as pre-cooling, decreases with increasing pellet density and burning surface area [26, 36]. For more understanding, at sufficiently high pressures the energy transmitted from the flame towards the surface maintains the surface temperature above the AP melting point.

Open Document