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Shelf Life Prediction of Propellants Using a Reaction Severity Index
Author(s) -
Dubois Charles,
Perreault François
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
propellants, explosives, pyrotechnics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.56
H-Index - 65
eISSN - 1521-4087
pISSN - 0721-3115
DOI - 10.1002/1521-4087(200211)27:5<253::aid-prep253>3.0.co;2-8
Subject(s) - propellant , isothermal process , arrhenius equation , accelerated aging , rocket propellant , solid fuel rocket , materials science , rocket (weapon) , degradation (telecommunications) , work (physics) , thermodynamics , computer science , composite material , aerospace engineering , chemistry , activation energy , engineering , physics , telecommunications
Shelf life predictions for solid rocket propellant formulations depend upon the existence of a reliable and efficient accelerated aging method. Results presented in this paper demonstrate the failure of simple models like Arrhenius to predict the aging behavior of some composite propellants. This work proposes a new approach for accelerated aging studies of the degradation of the polymeric binder in such propellant formulations. Using a reaction severity index, simple kinetic models have been demonstrated to adequately model the degradation behavior of various propellants submitted to isothermal aging. Furthermore, the versatility of the method allows shelf life predictions for samples experiencing temperature cycles during aging.