Studies on the High Performance Characteristics of an Aluminized Ammonium Perchlorate Composite Solid Propellant Based on Nitrile Butadiene Rubber

In the present study, a high performance composite solid propellant formulation was prepared based on nitrile butadiene rubber (NBR) and dibutyl phthalate (DBP) plasticizer, which has a longer pot life and high density specific impulse. The developed cost effective novel binder system was prepared with readily available raw materials (NBR and DBP). The formulation of the composition was performed by varying the content of the NBR/DBP binder in the range of 14-20%. The rocket performance characteristics were determined theoretically using PROPEP and compared with those of an HTPB based propellant. The rheological, mechanical, physical, ballistic and thermal properties of the NBR/ DBP propellant were studied and compared with literature data for similar compositions based on an HTPB/dioctyl adipate (DOA) binder. The yield stress was determined by spreadibilty measurements, and indicated the superiority of this binder based propellant over existing composite propellants. It was concluded that following decreasing the content of the NBR/DBP binder in the propellant from 20 to 14%: Central European Journal of Energetic Materials ISSN 1733-7178; e-ISSN 2353-1843 Copyright © 2021 Łukasiewicz Research Network – Institute of Industrial Organic Chemistry, Poland 493 Studies on the High Performance Characteristics of an Aluminized Ammonium... Copyright © 2021 Łukasiewicz Research Network – Institute of Industrial Organic Chemistry, Poland – in the range 58.83-78.45 bar (5.883-7.845 MPa), the pressure index increased from 0.159 to 0.371, – at 68.64 bar (6.864 MPa), the burning rate increased from 4.10 to 6.54 mm/s, but the theoretical specific impulse value did not change significantly (258.0-