B. Roduit1, L. Xia1, P. Folly2, B. Berger2, J. Mathieu2, A. Sarbach2, H. Andres3, M. Ramin3 , B. Vogelsanger3, D. Spitzer4, H. Moulard4, D. Dilhan5
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1AKTS AG, TECHNOArk 1, 3960 Siders, Switzerland
2armasuisse, Science and Technology, 3602 Thun, Switzerland
3Nitrochemie Wimmis AG, 3752 Wimmis, Switzerland
4ISL, Institut franco-allemand de recherches de Saint Louis, France
5CNES Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales, 31401 Toulouse, France
Abstract
Two small calibre and four medium calibre types of propellants were investigated non-isothermally (0.25-4 K min-1) by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) in the range of RT-260-C and isothermally (60-100°C) by heat flow calorimetry (HFC). The data obtained from both techniques were used for the calculation and comparison of the kinetic parameters of the decomposition process. The application of HFC allowed to determine the kinetic parameters of the very early stage of the reaction (reaction progress below 0.02) what, in turn, made possible the precise prediction of the reaction progress under temperature mode corresponding to real atmospheric changes according to STANAG 2895. In addition, the kinetic parameters obtained from DSC data enabled determination of self-accelerating decomposition temperature (SADT) and comparison of the predicted ignition temperature during slow cook-off with the experimental results. The study contains also the results of the calculation of the time to maximum rate (TMRad) of the propellants under adiabatic conditions.