Numerical Simulation of Drying Process of Multi-Perforated Stick Propellants

Abstract

Drying is a complicated process which are involving simultaneous heat and mass transfer in the actual production of stick propellants. Inappropriate drying time and temperature may lead to poorer performance of cutting propellants and failure of propellant matrix shape. Numerical approaches are performed for understanding the drying process of stick propellants. In this paper, a software COMSOL, based on finite element, is used for investigating the drying rate and the concentration distribution of the solvent in the propellant matrix. The mesh, composed by 170000 quadrilateral elements, is created by the software on the physical field control condition. The solvent content of stick propellants is decreasing as time passes out that should be true physically. The numerical results indicate that the existent of the perforations has a little influence on the solvent distribution of stick propellants. The major advantage of this method is that the behavior of the entire drying process can be predicted well because the drying analysis of the propellant matrix are incorporated with the mass and energy transfer. It can provide theoretical guidance for the drying process and its parameters of stick propellants.