Rheological Characterization of Hydrogen Peroxide Gel Propellant

Abstract

An experimental investigation on the rheological behavior of gelled hydrogen peroxide at different ambient temperature (283.15, 293.15 and 303.15 K) was carried out in this study. The gel propellant was rheologically characterized using a rheometer, in the shear rate ranges of 1 to <TEX>$20s^{-1}$</TEX>, and 1 to <TEX>$1000s^{-1}$</TEX>. Hydrogen peroxide gel was found to be thixotropic in nature. The apparent viscosity value with some yield stress (in-case of shear rate 1 to <TEX>$20s^{-1}$</TEX>) drastically fell with the shear rate. In the case of the shear rate range of 1 to <TEX>$20s^{-1}$</TEX>, the apparent viscosity and yield stress of gel were significantly reduced at higher ambient temperatures. In the case of the shear rate range of 1 to <TEX>$1000s^{-1}$</TEX>, no significant effect of varying the ambient temperature on the gel apparent viscosity was observed. The up and down shear rate curves for hydrogen peroxide gel formed a hysteresis loop that showed no significant change with variation in temperature for both the 1 to <TEX>$20s^{-1}$</TEX> and the 1 to <TEX>$1000s^{-1}$</TEX> shear rate ranges. No significant change in the thixotropic index of gel was observed for different ambient temperatures, for both low and high shear rates. The gel in the 1 to <TEX>$20s^{-1}$</TEX> shear rate range did not lead to a complete breakdown of gel structure, in comparison to that in the 1 to <TEX>$1000s^{-1}$</TEX> shear rate range.