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Determination of the Decomposition Behavior of Double‐Base Propellants at Low Temperatures
Author(s) -
Volk F.,
Wunsch G.
Publication year - 1985
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/prep.19850100605
Subject(s) - propellant , depolymerization , thermal decomposition , nitrocellulose , gel permeation chromatography , ultimate tensile strength , thermal stability , molar mass distribution , stabilizer (aeronautics) , decomposition , materials science , chemistry , base (topology) , analytical chemistry (journal) , chemical engineering , composite material , chromatography , polymer chemistry , organic chemistry , polymer , membrane , structural engineering , mathematical analysis , biochemistry , mathematics , engineering
Thermal and mechanical stability are very important characteristics of energetic materials used as ingredients of propellants compositions. For the determination of the thermal decomposition behavior of solid double base propellants, usually gravimetric, calorimetric, and chemical methods are being employed. At ICT, the decreasing rates of stabilizers determined by high‐performance chromatography at different temperatures are successfully used as a mean to forecast the chemical life time of propellants containing nitric esters. On the other hand, the mechanical properties are evaluated by measuring the tensile strength with a more or less accuracy. In the last years, the increasing performance of the gel‐permeation chromatography enabled the determination of the molecular weight and the molecular weight distribution of nitrocellulose in different propellants. In this connection a linear relationship between temperature and depolymerization rate was obtained. This relationship corresponds fairly well with the stabilizer depletion rate and the drop in the mechanical properties.