Experimental study on thermal decomposition kinetics of natural ageing AP/HTPB base bleed composite propellant

Abstract

Abstract The kinetics of the thermal decomposition for a naturally ageing ammonium perchlorate (AP) and hydroxyl-terminated-polybutadiene (HTPB) base bleed composite propellant were investigated using a differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The naturally ageing AP/HTPB base bleed propellant samples have been stored in a sealed plastic bag at room temperature (5–25 °C) for more than 20 years. The experimental DSC results were obtained by placing samples (each about 1.5 mg) in a sealed pan under non-isothermal condition under different heating rates, 5.0, 10.0, 15.0, 20.0 and 30.0 °C·min −1 . The activation energy and pre-exponential factor were estimated based on the relationship between the exothermic peak temperature and the heating rate by Ozawa and Kissinger methods, respectively. The decomposition kinetic parameters is lower the values under laboratorial aging condition.