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U.S. Department of Energy
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Using small scale tests to estimate the failure diameter of a propellant

Conference ·
OSTI ID:5658349

Electric gun and gas gun shock initiation experiments using embedded manganin pressure gauges were employed to determine high pressure reaction rates of propellants. This reaction rate data was used to develop ignition and growth reactive flow computer models, which then predict the unconfined failure diameter of these propellants. Two ammonium perchlorate/binder/aluminum propellants were studied: one containing no HMX and one containing 12% HMX. The propellant containing no HMX exhibited no reaction in any of the experiments. In the short pulse duration electric gun and the lower pressure gas gun experiments, the HMX-containing propellant exhibited partial reactions indicating that only the 12% HMX reacted. At 20 GPa input pressures the rest of the propellant mixture reacted and the reaction rates were quantitatively measured and calculated. Using these reaction rates, the unconfined failure diameter of the 12% HMX propellant was calculated to be between 2.5 and 3 inches. 6 refs., 14 figs., 3 tabs.

Research Organization:
Lawrence Livermore National Lab., CA (USA)
Sponsoring Organization:
DOE/DP
DOE Contract Number:
W-7405-ENG-48
OSTI ID:
5658349
Report Number(s):
UCRL-101953; CONF-890811--39; ON: DE90001166
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English