Experimental study on the fire characteristics of typical nitrocellulose mixtures using a cone calorimeter

Abstract

To further understand the safety performance of energetic materials such as nitrocellulose (NC) mixtures, it is necessary to obtain the fire properties of commonly used NC mixtures. In the present study, an in situ calorimeter was employed to investigate the fire characteristics of pure NC, NC-plasticizer mixture and two NC-humectant mixtures, namely NC-isopropanol and NC-ethanol mixtures. The plasticizer (dibutyl phthalate) and humectants (ethanol or isopropanol) can effectively reduce the fire risk of NC. NC-plasticizer is more risky than NC-humectants in the burning process. Compared with the NC with isopropanol, the NC with ethanol exhibits higher fire risk. Also, the thermogravimetric (TG) curves of four NC samples were measured by a TG analyzer. The curves indicate that the decomposition of pure NC is more dramatic than NC mixtures, and the NC with plasticizer dibutyl phthalate can decompose in advance.