Low-temperature rheological properties and viscosity equation of Al/HTPB suspension system

Abstract

The rheological behavior of propellant slurries is crucial for ensuring the feasibility of the 3D printing process, controlling print quality, regulating performance, and simulating predictions. However, there have been relatively few prior studies on the rheological properties of composite solid propellant slurries at low temperatures, which hinders the application of 3D printing propellant technology under extreme temperature conditions. In addition, the use of 3D printing technology to manufacture propellants at low temperatures is advantageous for improving safety. This paper investigates the rheological properties of monodisperse systems with aluminum powder as a solid filler and end-hydroxy polybutadiene (HTPB) as the dispersed phase at low temperatures (−15∼10 °C). It explores the effects of solid content, temperature, and particle size on their rheological properties. Results show that the viscosity of the system in the range of −15∼10 °C increases exponentially with the decrease in temperature, and the viscosity at −15 °C increases by 616.90 % compared with that at 10 °C when the volume fraction (φ) of Al-1 is 35.8 %; the larger size of the particles the larger the viscosity is when the temperature and φ are the same, which is interpretes in terms of interfacial properties between the systems. The low-temperature correction factor is introduced into the Einstein-Roscoe equation to obtain the modified viscosity-volume fraction equation, and the correction factor is 0.0173, as evidenced by its excellent agreement with the experimental data.