Predi cti on of Detonation Hazard i n Sol i d Propel l ants

by;
STANLEY WACHTELL
PICATINNY ARSENAL, DOVER, N.S.
Abstract
Cl assi f i cati on of the detonati on hazard af ter i gni ti on of a l arge sol i d
propel l ant rocket motor has i n the past been based on sensi ti vi ty test methods
which have l i ttl e rel ati onshi p to the actual condi ti ons under which such an
i nci dent might occur. The development of a method by which predi cti on of such
an occurence i s possi bl e i s described i n thi s paper.
Experimental work has shown that when a l arge mass of an expl osi ve or pro-
pel l ant i s burned i n a closed system, a sharp change i n sl ope of the burning
rate/pressure curve occurs at a pressure which i s speci f i c f or that materi al .
This transi ti on pressure i s dependent on the i ni ti al temperature of the materi al .
For expl osi ves thi s transi ti on pressure i s i n the range of 4-8000 psi and is
rel ated to the sensi ti vi ty of the explosive. For propel l ants, the transi ti on
pressure i s somewhat hi gher and, thi s pressure as wel l as the sl ope of the trans-
i ti on curve appears to be rel ated to the physi cal state and the energy l evel of
the propel l ant.
From the transi ti on pressure and the sl ope of the transi ti on curve and
from the physical confi gurati on of a mi ssi l e motor, the hazard of detonati on
may be determined.
To extend the range of measurements possi bl e, a pressure vessel has been
developed i n which measurements of propel l ant burning rate at pressures as high
as 250,000 psi can be made.
concentri c cyl i nders. Radial stresses are taken by the i nner cyl i nder, which is
repl aceabl e i f f racture should occur. Recording of pressure information precedes
f racture of the i nner vessel . The outer cyl i nder carri es only axi al stresses and
i s of suf f i ci ent strength to prevent f racture and retai n fragments,
This vessel has a unique desi gn consi sti ng of two
The development of thi s vessel has al so made possi bl e the examination of
burning characteri sti cs of cannon propel l ants f or very high pressure appl i cati ons.
Resul ts show that some standard cannon propel l ants have transi ti on characteri sti cs
si mi l ar t o those descri bed f or expl osi ves and rocket propel l ants. This phenomenon
explains-some di sastrous i nci dents resul ti ng from very high pressure gun f i ri ngs.
n
I ntroducti on
I n assessi ng the hazard involved i n the use of a rocket motor there are a
number of f actors to be considered. Fi rst, the hazard of detonati on while trans-
porti ng the motor from i ts manufacturing si te to pl ace of launching i n i ts shi ppi ng
contai ner. Second, the hazard of detonati on of the propel l ant i f the warhead
should explode. Third, the hazard of detonati on of propel l ant i f struck by
a high explosive bomb. Fourth, the hazard of detonati on of the propel l ant i f
struck by bomb fragments or proj ecti l es.
a normal i gni ti on during launching.
Fi f th, the hazard of detonati on af ter
Actual l y, numbers 1 and 5 are essenti al l y the same hazard - that i s trans-
i ti on from burning to detonati on, while 2, 3 and 4 are essenti al l y shock i ni ti a-
ti on.
Concern with these l atter three problems of shock i ni ti ati on are general l y
recognized and most propel l ants are wel l characteri zed as to shock sensi ti vi ty
by vari ous booster sensi ti vi ty or pi pe tests. The information obtained tel l s
l i ttl e about transi ti on from def l agrati on to detonati on (DDT). This bri ngs us
to items 1 and 5.
A major hazard from missile transportati on and handling i s acci dental
i gni ti on.
the mi ssi l e case or w i l l it resul t i n transi ti on to high order detonati on?
The di fference for a l arge motor contai ni ng tons of sol i d propel l ant could be
a good f i re or a major di saster. I f the possi bi l i ty (or non-possi bi l i ty) of
transi ti on could be predi cted, a much more real i sti c approach to storage and
handling could be adopted.
I n the confined condi ti on, w i l l thi s resul t i n a pressure blow of
The hazard of transi ti on to detonati on af ter normal i gni ti on on a f i ri ng
stand could resul t from unknown def ects which exi st i n a motor resul ti ng from
manufacture, aging or handling.
This report descri bes work which has been done thus f ar i n an ef f ort to
cl assi f y explosives wi th respect to the possi bi l i ty of DDT under the condi ti ons
and geometry which may actual l y exi st i n a sol i d propel l ant motor.
Kistiakowsky (1) descri bed a mechanism f or the development of detonati on
i n a l arge mass of granul ar or crystal i ne explosive i gni ted thermal l y at a
l ocal i zed region wi thi n the bul k. A s the expl osi ve burns, the gases formed
cannot escape between crystal s and a pressure gradi ent develops. Thi s i ncrease
i n gas pressure causes an i ncrease i n burning rate which i n turn causes an i n-
crease i n pressure wi th constantl y i ncreasi ng vel oci ty. This condi ti on resul ts
i n the formation of shock waves which are rei nforced by the energy rel eased by
the burning explosive and they eventual l y reach an i ntensi ty where the enti re
energy of the reacti on i s used for propagation of the shock wave and a stabl e
detonati on front i s produced. A cri ti cal mass exi sts f or each materi al above
which thi s defl agrati on can pass over i nto detonati on under proper condi ti ons.
Below thi s mass the burni ng wi l l f i r st i ncrease and then decrease as the
materi al i s consumed.
.
i l
85
The transi ti on to detonati on i s considered l argel y a physi cal process
i n which the l i near burning rate of the bed of materi al i ncreases to several
thousand meters per second although the i ndi vi dual parti cl es are consumed
at the rate of only a few meters per second.
The val i di ty of thi s mechanism has been demonstrated experi mental l y
f or granul ar propel l ants by a number of workers ( 2 ) (3) (4).
In the experimental work described here, it was bel i eved that very
similar condi ti ons could be establ i shed i f a l arge mass of expl osi ve or pro-
pel l ant were burned i n a closed chamber. It has been shown (5) (6) thar f or
composite propel l ants, the hi ghl y el asti c bi nder materi al w i l l undergo bri ttl e
f racture when stress i s appl i ed at very high strai n rates. When propel l ants
or expl osi ves are burned i n a closed chamber the rate of pressure bui l d up
accel erates suf f i ci entl y to develop surface strai ns i n the l arge grai n at
rates which exceed those needed to produce bri ttl e fracture. Combine thi s
with the embrittlement accompanying the high pressures involved and the
thermal shock produced by the hot gases of combustion on the col d grai n and
a condi ti on equi val ent to that exi sti ng f or granular materi al could exi st.
A f urther veri f i cati on of thi s mechanism i s the increased tendency of pro-
pel l ants to detonate when cooled t o l ow temperatures. This problem i s wel l
known to anyone working with sol i d propel l ants both f or rockets or cannons.
Basis f or Experimental Studi es
I f the mechanism suggested by Kistiakowsky f or granul ar and crystal i ne
explosives could apply to sol i d propel l ants by the mechanism suggested above,
then i t should be possi bl e to demonstrate the i ncrease i n burni ng surface f or
such materi al s by burning l arge pi eces i n a closed chamber i nthi ch the burning
of the materi al produced the hi gher pressures f or accel erated burning. The
fi rst i ndi cati on that such a reacti on actual l y might occur was found when a
seri es of cannon propel l ants, which had caused guns to blow up when f i red at
temperatures of -200F and -4OOF were tested i n a closed chamber (7). When
records were made of rate of chaxe of pressure vs. pressure, it was found
that a sharp i ncrease i n rate occurred at a pressure which was f ai rl y speci f i c
for each l ot of propel l ant tested. I f such a mechanism di d exi st, then i t
should be demonstrable f or high expl osi ves as well. Since the normal burning
rate laws are known to hold f or both propel l ants and expl osi ves when burned
under stati c pressure condi ti ons (as i n a strand burning rate bomb) a compari-
son of these two methods of burning would demonstrate the exi stance of the
mechanism. Cal cul ati on of the l i near burning rate of a cyl i nder of materi al
under constantl y changing pressure from the measurement o f dp/dt VS. pressure
i s given i n references (8) and (9). In thi s cal cul ati on the assumption i s
made that the cyl i nder i s i gni ted uniformly on al l surfaces and always burns
normal to that surface. Experience with i nterrupted burning of propel l ant
grai ns of even complicated geometry veri f i es thi s. I f , however, cracki ng or
86
crazi ng should occur, the cal cul ated l i near burning rate wi l l be f ar i n
excess of the val ue expected and the i ncrease i n surface area can be cal -
cul ated from thi s apparent i ncrease i n l i near burning rate.
Experiments With Burning of High Explosives
Cylinders of TNT were prepared with diameters of 1" t o 1%" and l engths
of 1" t o 3".
had been caref ul l y cast to prevent porosi ty or voids. A l l cyl i nders were
machined from the same casti ng and were considered to have about the same
crystal i ne structure. A seri es of these were f i red at loading densi ti es
(weight of expl osi ve, grams/volume of chamber, cc) of 0.11 to 0.387. I n
addi ti on, i n some tests the chamber was preloaded up to 10,000 psi by i n-
cl udi ng some very f ast burni ng mortar propel l ant which produced the pre-
l oadi ng pressure before the TNT had a chance to burn appreciably. Fi gure 1
shows some of the typi cal osci l l ograms obtained. Strands were al so cut from
the block of TNT and were burned at pressures up to 20,000 psi i n a Crawford
strand burning rate bomb.
f or al l the resul ts obtai ned and were pl otted on a si ngl e log pl ot. Figure 2
shows the average curve obtai ned from thi s data. Note the change i n slope
that occurs f or the cl osed bomb l i ne at about 6,000 psi while the strand burner
shows the normal burni ng rate/pressure rel ati onshi p.
These cyl i nders were machined from sol i d blocks of TNT which
Linear burning rate vs. pressure were cal cul ated
A cal cul ati on of i ncrease i n surface area wi th pressure i s shown i n
Fi gure 3.
strand burner i nto the equati on used f or cal cul ati on of the closed bomb
burni ng rate and sol vi ng f or surface area at di f f erent val ues of pressure.
Note that an i ncrease i n surface area of almost 20 times occurs. Figure 4
gi ves the rati o of cal cul ated area/expected area f or a typi cal cyl i nder of
TNT.
This was done by substi tuti ng the burning rate obtained from the
Experiments of thi s same nature were made with Composition B which i s a
Resul ts si mi l ar to TNT were obtained although di f f i cul ty
mi xture of 60 percent of RDX with 40 percent of TNT with 1 percent of wax
desensi ti zer added.
i n obtai ni ng uniform i gni ti on requi red the use of preloading f or al l tests.
Fi gures 5, 6, 7 and 8 show the data obtai ned f or Composition B. Thi s pre-
transi ti on pressure appears to be somewhat lower than f or TNT alone although
detai l i n thi s area of the curve i s l acki ng because of the preloading required.
Tests of Propel l ants
A number of experi mental and high energy propel l ants were then tested
usi ng thi s same technique.
double base types because of securi ty consi derati ons. Resul ts of these pro-
pel l ants are presented here, each one showing modi fi cati ons of the same pre-
transi ti on characteri sti cs. The f i r st propel l ant, a double base type wi th
These can only be descri bed as composite and
87
sol i d oxi di zer, when f i red i n the cl osed bomb showed a somewhat exaggerated
pre-transi ti on ef f ect as shown i n Fi gure 9.
cal cul ated to l i near burning rate vs. pressure as f or TNT and Composition B.
The resul ts are shown i n Fi gure 10. Note that the transi ti on which occurs at
about 15,000 psi is even sharper than f or the expl osi ves and the slope of
the curve i s steeper.
resul ti ng from combustion of thi s propel l ant as compared with the explosives.
Strand burning rated data was not avai l abl e f or thi s propel l ant at hi gh
pressure. Therefore, the l ow pressure curve was extrapol ated. Cal cul ati on
of changes i n surface area shows i ncreases up to 25 times f or thi s materi al .
Other samples of similar composition were tested i n which changes were made
i n the pl asti ci zer; both i n the materi al used and the percentage.
changes were found to shi f t the pre-transi ti on pressure up or down,
ef f ort was made at thi s time to rel ate thi s shi f t to di f f erences i n physical
properti es.
cap.
A series of these tests were
This i s bel i eved due to the l arger amount of energy
These
No
A l l these samples of propel l ant were detonabl e wi th a 116 bl asti ng
A second propel l ant-desi gnated ARF, a high energy doubl e base typegave
the resul ts shown i n Fi gure 11. The strai ght l i ne burni ng rate curve was ob-
tai ned with poi nts from strand burning rate tests and cl osed bomb tests at loading .
densi ti es up to 0.4.
test, a pre-transi ti on change i n sl ope i n the curve resul ted at about 40,000
psi . The pressure rate was so high that a l arge part of the trace was l ost.
Extensive damage al so resul ted to the bomb and f urther testi ng of thi s composi-
ti on was stopped at thi s t i me to await the development of more sui tabl e high
pressure equipment.
However, when a prel oadi ng of 15,000 psi was used i n one
A thi rd type of propel l ant tested was a composite double base - Type QZ
manufactured by Rohm 6r Haas. This propel l ant type was known to have undergone
DDT when f i red i n a l arge motor which contained some porous propel l ant. Tests
at 700F did not show any transi ti on poi nt. However, when cooled to -600F a
typi cal pre-transi ti on curve resul ted (Figure 12).
pel l ants, a number of lower energy and l ess sensi ti ve materi al s were tested
i n the bomb both wi th and without preloading.
could be found wi thi n the pressure l i mi tati ons of our test equipment.
I n addi ti on to these pro-
No i ndi cati ons of pre-transi ti on
Design of Ultra-High Pressure Equipment
Because of the l i mi tati ons of our test equipment (80,000 psi ) the design
of a vessel that would contai n much hi gher pressures, was undertaken.
basi c design concept uti l i zed was based on the f act that f or suf f i ci entl y high
rates of loading, the i nerti a of the vessel wal l s would resist f ai l ure suf f i -
ci entl y long t o permit measurement of the pressure time hi story.
practi cal uni t,two concentri c cyl i nders were used.
cyl i nder contained the high pressure while the outer massive cyl i nder hel d
The
To make a
The inner repl aceabl e
at3
the end cl osures f or the i nner cyl i nder. A space between the cyl i nders was
provided f or expansion of the gases i n case of f ai l ure of the i nner cyl i nder.
The outer cyl i nder al so served as a confinement f or fragments resul ti ng from
f ai l ure of the i nner cyl i nder, A l l pressure on the end cl osures i s trans-
mi tted axi al l y EO the outer cyl i nder which has suf f i ci ent strength to hol d
pressures i n excess of 300,000 psi i n the i nner chamber. The seal s between
the i nner cyl i nder and end caps were designed t o expand as the outer cyl i nder
stretched due t o the pressure development. When the i nner chamber di d not
break, i t was found that the expansion of the seal s maintained pressure on
the end caps, making it i mpossi bl e t o open. Therefore, provi si on was made
to recompress the seal s wi th a hydraul i c r am t o rel ease thi s pressure and
permit opening of the bomb. Af ter many di f f i cul ti es with parts f ai l ures,
a basi c design shown i n Fi gure 13 was evolved. An exploded view, of m earl y
desi gn, i s given i n Fi gure 14.
Actual detai l of the f i nal desi gn of thi s vessel i s not given here because
i t i s &till undergoing changes resul ti ng from experience i n i ts use. Suffi ce
i t t o say, that when working wi t h the dynamic pressures and high temperatures
of the type encountered i n thi s work, every conceivable type of f ai l ure has
occurred. However, measurements of pressures as high as 250,000 psi have
been made.
Measurement of pressures can be made i n thi s vessel wi th any type of
pressure transducer by sui tabl y modifying the gage housing. I n our i ni ti al
testi ng, pressure/ti me measurements were made usi ng a Ki stl er Gage Type 601
wi th a speci al hyperbal l i sti c probe. This gage i s designed to measure
pressures up t o 300,000 psi . It i s a pi ezoel ectri c type i n which the charge that
bui l d up on a quartz crystal under compression i s measured by means of a
speci al el ectrometer ci rcui t. The pressure i s transmi tted t o the crystal
through a small caref ul l y ground pi ston which extends i nto the pressure chamber,
For i nteri or bal l i sti c work and f or measurement of rate of change of
pressure i t i s considered more desi reabl e to obtai n measurements of dp/dt vs.
pressure rather than pressure time. However, at the time the work descri bed
below was done, such i nstrumentati on was not avai l abl e. Work being done at
the present time i s usi ng such measurements.
Measurement of High Pressure Characteri sti cs of Cannon Propel l ants
Following the reasoni ng and pre-transi ti on characteri sti cs descri bed above
f or rocket propel l ants, i t seemed reasonabl e t o expect that a ,in?ilar pre-
transi ti on mechanism might exi st f or cannon propel l ants.
Actual l y, over the past many years, numerous acci dents i n gun f i ri nss have
occurred which have been di f f i cul t t o expl ai n i n terms of anything other than
propel l ant malfunction. Most frequentl y these have occurred i n low temperature
f i ri ng of propel l ants which functi on normally i n average temperature condi ti ons,
Typical of thi s type of mal functi on are low temperature mortar f i ri ngs usi ng
I
1
89
I
i
I
M9 propel l ant.
occasions, ruptured mortar tubes. M17 propel l ant has al so been known to
di spl ay errati c bal l i sti c behavior at - 4OOF, and i n 1958 a 76MM gun was blown
up i n such a malfunction.
High pressures developed under such condi ti ons have, on some
It was duri ng the i nvesti gati on of thi s malfunction, that it was shown
Under cl osed bomb
that certai n l ots of M17 propel l ant had the characteri sti c of devel opi ng a
change i n the burning rate/pressure curve (Reference 7).
tests it was possi bl e to determine which l ots of M17 propel l ant would actual l y
develop thi s high pressure.
defecti ve M17 propel l ants are given i n Figure 15.
Traces showing dp/dt vs. pressure of good and
Up to thi s poi nt, except f or the low temperature tests, these transi ti ons
have only been noted i n rocket propel l ants and expl osi ves on an experi mental
basi s. Cannon propel l ants have been used i n these pressure ranges rather
camnonly with no such ef f ects, except for occasi onal l y unexpl ai ned malfunc-
ti ons. One such mal functi on occurred recentl y, when a gun designed f or
86,000 psi max pressure was destroyed with T36 cannon propel l ant when an
i ncrease i n charge weight of about 2 percent to i ncrease pressure above
70,000 psi , caused an i ncrease i n max pressure of over 100 percent.
With the development of the ul tra high pressure cl osed bomb, capable of
testi ng propel l ants at much hi gher pressures than previ ousl y, it became possi bl e
to determine i f the same type of behavior demonstrated f or rocket propel l ants
and expl osi ves could be shown cannon propel l ants at hi gh pressures. AM17
propel l ant of 0.045 web was loaded i nto thi s new bomb at a l oadi ng densi ty of
.40. Fi gure 16 i s the
pressure/ti me trace obtained.
thi s pressure ri se (about 92,000 psi ) there i s a verti cal rise of i ndef i ni te
magnitude before the trace returns to l ow pressure. Thi s i s i ndi cati ve of
transi ti on to detonati on havi ng taken place af ter 90 percent of the propel l ant
has been burned. Other evidence of the detonati on i nsi de the bomb was the
f racture of the i nner cyl i nder which had been cal cul ated t o hol d i n excess of
150,000 psi , and a def i ni te spal l i ng condi ti on exi sti ng i n some of the frag-
ments of the i nner cyl i nder.
cracked al l the way through.
A maximum pressure of 105,000 psi was anti ci pated.
Careful examination shows that at the end of
The massive end plug of the bomb was al so
After repai rs were completed to the apparatus, tests were then made of
T28 propel l ant usi ng the same conditions.
trace. While the burning t i me was much shorter, a maximum pressure of 105,000
psi was obtained with no unusual i nci dent i n the bomb to indicate a transi ti on
ef f ect.
times to veri f y thi s.
ti on was avai l abl e.
be avai l abl e.
Figure 15 shows the pressure/ti me
T28 propel l ant has been f i red at .40 loading densi ty a number of
A t the t i me of these tests only pressure/ti me informa-
For f uture work it i s expected that dp/dt VS. pressure wi l l
90
These resul ts f i t i n very wel l with the mechanism stated previously.
M17 propel l ant and 'I26 propel l ant are very si mi l ar i n energy l evel . Thei r
basi c di fference i s i n compressive strength and the di f f erence i n the homo-
geni ety of thei r structure. M17 propel l ant i s notori ousl y poor as f ar as
compressive strength i s concerned although wi th some modi fi cati on i n pro-
cessi ng, improvement has been made as with T36 propel l ant.
It i s i nteresti ng t o note that i n high pressure gun f i ri ngs with M17
propel l ant, the transi ti on ef f ect of T36 which ori gi nal l y was demonstrated
above 70,000 psi was found f or M17 propel l ant to begi n at 50,000 psi .
The very sketchy nature of the work presented here i s the resul t of a
very l i mi ted study of cannon propel l ant burning under very high pressure
condi ti ons. However, we bel i eve i t i s si gni f i cant enough to be reported at
thi s time.
Conclusions
I n the work presented herei n, there i s def i ni te evidence that the process
of transi ti on from def l agrati on t o detonati on for expl osi ves and propel l ants
i s a continuous reacti on consi sti ng of f i r st - i gni ti on; second - under con-
fi ned condi ti ons (such as might exi st i n a l arge mass of materi al or porous
materi al ) a pre-detonati on reacti on consi sti ng of accel erated burning due
t o a physi cal breakdown of the surface resul ti ng from the pressure, rate of
change of pressure and temperature gradi ent; thi rd - development of an
accel erati ng shock f ront; f ourth - detonati on i f suf f i ci ent mass of materi al
i s avai l abl e.
It i s bel i eved that any materi al which can be detonated should exhi bi t
thi s pre-detonation reacti on. I n the case of very sensi ti ve primary expl osi ves
the l evel of control l i ng parameters requi red t o start detonati on i s so low
that they cannot be measured by present techniques. For "non-detonable" pro-
pel l ants the pressures requi red for the pre-detonati on reacti on to occur are
s o hi gh that f or al l practi cal purposes, they cannot be attai ned.
It i s consi dered practi cal that thi s technique can be used f or the cl assi -
f i cati on of the detonati on hazard f or a parti cul ar motor confi gurati on i f the
pre-transi ti on pressure'and sl ope of the burning rate pressure curve of the
propel l ant used i s known. Thus, for example, i f a defect or void should exi st
i n a propel l ant, which might conceivably i gni te on f i ri ng, by consi deri ng such
an i gni ti on as an i nteri or bal l i sti c system the pressure and rate of pressure
ri se can be cal cul ated t o determine i f pre-detonati on condi ti ons could develop
before tensi l e f ai l ure of the grai n occurred. I f such reacti on can occur then
the accel erated pressure ri se could develop the shock f ront necessary f or trans-
i ti on t o detonati on.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6 .
7.
8.
9 .
10.
REFERENCES
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Symposi umon Combust i on Fl ame and Expl osi on Phenomena Wi l l i ams and
Wi l ki ns, 1949.
Hyndman, J . R. , et al , Rohmand Hass Co. Bal l i st i cs Sect i on Pr ogr am
Report W7, Oct ober 1957.
Mason, C. M. et al , (U. S. Dept. of I nt er i or , Bur eau of Mi nes) Fi nal
Summar y Report #3734 I nvest i pat i on of Suscept i bi l i t y t o Det onat i on of
Propel l ant s.
Macek, A. ( Naval Or dnance Labor at or y) NAVORD 6105, Sensi t i vi t y of Expl osi ves
VII. Tr ansi t i on f romSl owBur ni ng t o Det onat i on: A Model f or Shock
For mat i on i n a Def l agr at i np Sol i d, 3 Febr uar y 1958.
J ones, J . W., Sager s, D. L. , and Nol an, E. J., Fr act ur e Mechani cs of Sol i d
Pr opel l ant s, Pr ogr ess Repor t No. nab- A- 19, 16 Febr uar y 1959- 15 Febr uar y
1960, East er n Labor at or y, E. I . duPont de Nemour s & Company ( Conf i dent i al )
J ones, J . W., Pr edi ct i on of Cat ast r ophi c Rocket Mot or Expl osi on Condi t i ons
f r omBroad Spect r umMechani cal Pr oper t y Anal ysi s. Pr epr i nt s of Si xt eent h
Meet i ng, J ANAF Sol i d Pr opel l ant Gr oup, Vol . 5.
Russel l , K. H., Gol dst ei n, H. M. , I nvest i gat i on & Scr eeni ng of M17
Pr opel l ant Pr oduct i on f or Lot s Subj ect t o Poor Low Temper at ur e Bal l i st i c
Per f or mance, Techni cal Repor t DB- TR 7- 61 Ammuni t i on Gr oup, Pi cat i nny
Ar senal , Dover , N.J., J une 1961
Pal l i ngst on, A. O., Wei nst ei n, M., Met hod of Cal cul at i on of I nt er i or
Bal l i st i c Pr oper t i es of Pr opel l ant s f r omCl osed Bomb Dat a, Pi cat i nny
Ar senal Techni cal Repor t #2005, J une 1954.
Wal l ace, W, F., NewFor mul as f or Rapi d Cal cul at i on of Li near Bur ni ng Rat es
of Sol i d Propel l ant s. Pi cat i nny Ar senal Techni cal Repor t #2488, Apri l 1958.
Wacht el l , S., McKni ght , C. E., A Met hod f or Det er mi nat i on of Det onabi l i t y
of Pr opel l ant s & Expl osi ves, Thi rd Symposi umon Det onat i on, ONR Symposi um
Repor t ACR- 52, Al so Pi cat i nny Ar senal Techni cal Report DB- TR 3- 61.
I
92
t
93
+---
IO*
PRESSURE , Ib/in'
Figure 2 . Linear Burning Rates of TNT Obtained with
, Closed Bomb and Strand Burner
94
I i
I
CLOSED noun - .- -- I
i
1
.---I--
. - -.
I . I
I
!
PRESSLIRE (t housandd PS I
EXPECTED SURFACE AREA VS ACTUAL AREA OBTAINED
FOR T NT CYLINDER BURNED IN CLOSED BOMB
FIGURE 3
I
lo
5
95
PRESSURE (Thouomdo) pal
FI GURE 4
n
L V
u,
m- 4
m
v)
-4
\
!
I C
Id
97
CLOSED
I I I I I 1 1 1 1 I
I
I I I l l
14, 1 4 lo'
WITH CLOSED BOMB AND STRAND BURNER
PRESSURE 9 I b/ I t
LINEAR BURNING RATES OF COMPOSITION B OBTAINED
FI GURE 6
I
!
_ _ _ .
I
I
I
I
I
I i
I -
EXPEOTEO AREA
I
I -
16 20 lo so
I
EXPECTED SURFACE AREA VS ACTUAL AREA
\
OBTAl N ED
FOR COMPOSITION B CYLINDER BURNED IN CLOSED BOMB
FIGURE 7
t
99
15
10
5
0
FIGURE 8
100
22-'
20-
18.
16-
0
0
- -
x u
s l2.-
&
10-
8'
6 -
4 -
2 -.
0
0
LOADING DENSITY- .220
-a I
I I 1 I I I 1
I I
5 lo 15 20 25 30 35 4Q 45 50
PRESSURE, PSI (THOUSANDS)
1
,
Figure 9 . Closed Bomb Test Experimental Propellant
101
11
I
I O
I C
1 I l l .
CL OSE0 BOMB
I EXTRAPOLATE^
I I I I I I I
a
I O
PRESSURE, PSI ( THOUSANDS)
Figure I O Linear Burning Rate of Experimental Propellant
Obtained with Closed Bomb
102
I
1
+
I I I I I I l I l I I I I t I I L
I
Y
lo' 10,
PRESSURE I b /in'
i
LINEAR BURNING RATES OF A R P PROPELLANT OBTAINED
WITH CLOSED BOMB AND STRAND 8URNER
FIGURE It
I '
N
W
E:
0
m
0
.e
Y .r(
2
0
u
m
3
2
E
2
2
m
X
a
c
Y
rn
P
a
0,
rn
0
4
r
a
X
w
0
7
106
nn
4. In
v)
In 6 In
- O b 0 In (u
0
0
v)
t-
z
4
W
0
[1:
z
0
z
z
U
0
LL
0
v)
W
I-
m
5
0
m
n
5
n
n
$i
w
v)
0
W
3
v)
v)
W
3
a
a
n
2
I
I