Agglomeration of Micro- and Nano-RDX and Its Influence on Properties of NG/TEGDN/NC Propellants

Abstract

In this paper, agglomeration of micro- and nano- RDX and its influence on properties of NG/TEGDN/NC propellants were studied. Particle sizes of loaded RDX were 0.34μm, 0.97μm, 3.70μm and 7.6μm. The propellants were prepared with RDX directly mixed or dispersed uniformly in advance, and with ethyl acetate and the mixture of acetone and alcohol, at 35 ℃ , respectively. Combustion characteristics and mechanical properties were investigated by using standard closed vessel and universal material testing machine at 20 ℃ . The fracture surface was characterized using scanning electron microscope. Results obtained indicate that both 0.34μm and 0.97μm RDX were agglomerated or had a crystal size growth in the propellants manufactured with all the three solvents, while worse with ethyl acetate. The burning rate pressure exponent and tensile strength decreased with the decreasing RDX particle size, while the impact strength on the contrary, except that the impact strength of propellants with 0.34μm and 0.97μm RDX was worse than that with 3.70μm and 7.6μm RDX due to the influence of agglomeration and that with 0.34μm dropped down obviously.