Solid Propellants

Piyush Thakre1 and Vigor Yang2

1 2

CD-adpaco Ltd, Melville, NY, USA School of Aerospace Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, USA

1 Introduction 2 Solid Propellant Properties and Ingredients 3 Classication of Solid Propellants 4 Combustion of Solid Propellants 5 Conclusion Symbols References

1 1 3 5 9 9 10

launches, missiles, and guns. Different chemical ingredients and their proportions result in different physical and chemical properties, combustion characteristics, and performance.

2 SOLID PROPELLANT PROPERTIES AND INGREDIENTS

The selection of propellant type is at the core of any solid rocket motor design. The desirable characteristics of a solid propellant are high specic impulse, predictable and reproducible burning rate and ignition characteristics, high density, ease of manufacturing, low cost, and good ageing characteristics. Propellants should produce low-smoke exhaust and not be prone to combustion instability. In addition, they should have adequate thermophysical and mechanical properties over the intended range of operating and storage conditions. Propellants are typically classied as homogeneous or heterogeneous, according to their chemical composition and physical structure. The former contain fuels and oxidizers, which are chemically linked at the molecular level. The latter include fuel and oxidizers, which are mixed physically. The ingredients of homogenous propellants belong to a wide spectrum of chemical families, but mostly fall into one of four categories: nitramines (RDX, HMX, HNIW also known as CL-20, HNF), azides (GAP, BAMO, AMMO), nitrate esters (NG, NC, BTTN, TMETN, DEGDN), or nitrates (ADN, AN). In composite propellants, the main ingredients often used are oxidizers such as AP, AN, and KN, and fuels such as HTPB, HTPE, and CTPB. Figure 1 shows the molecular structures of some of the above propellant ingredients. The material densities, heats 0 of formation ( Hf ), and adiabatic ame temperatures (Tf )

1 INTRODUCTION
Solid propellants are widely used in gun and rocket propulsion applications. They are very energetic and produce high temperature gaseous products on combustion. The energy produced by a unit volume of a propellant is called its energy density. The high material density of solid propellants leads to high energy density needed for producing the required propulsive force. Propellants on board a rocket are burned in a controlled way (deagration) to produce the desired thrust. A solid propellant consists of several chemical ingredients such as oxidizer, fuel, binder, plasticizer, curing agent, stabilizer, and cross-linking agent. The specic chemical composition depends on the desired combustion characteristics for a particular mission. Solid propellants are often tailored and classied by specic applications such as space
Encyclopedia of Aerospace Engineering. Edited by Richard Blockley and Wei Shyy c 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. ISBN: 978-0-470-68665-2

2 Rocket Propulsion

Figure 1. Molecular structures of RDX, HMX, ADN, BTTN, NG, TMETN, GAP, BMMO, and AMMO.

are listed in Table 1 (Beckstead et al., 2007). The material densities are typically in the range of 1.22.0 g cm3 . The heat of formation varies widely and is instrumental in determining the ame temperature and the total energy released during combustion. Numbers of experimental diagnostics and analytical models have helped obtain reliable data for the thermal decomposition, thermophysical properties, and ame structures of these propellants. Different chemical ingredients present in a solid propellant and their functions are as follows.

2.1 Fuel and oxidizer

Fuel and oxidizer are the two principle ingredients, which produce the high energy on combustion. One of the most commonly used oxidizers is AP. AP dominates the oxidizer

list because of its good characteristics that include compatibility with other propellant ingredients, good performance, and availability. AN and KN are also used in some applications. Although the inorganic nitrates are relatively low-performance oxidizers compared to perchlorates, they are used because of low cost and smokeless and non-toxic exhaust. Metal fuel such as aluminum and boron are frequently added to propellant mixtures. Aluminum, one of the widely used metal additives, is used in the form of small spherical particles (560 m) in a wide variety of solid propellants. Aluminum particles usually comprise 1420% of the propellant weight. Addition of metal fuel enhances the heat of combustion, propellant density, combustion temperature, and hence the specic impulse. There are some compounds, which can act as both fuel and oxidizer such as NG and AP.

Solid Propellants 3
Table 1. Monopropellant ingredient properties. Reproduced from Beckstead et al. (2007) c Elsevier. Density (g cm3 )
0 Hf (kcal mol1 )

These materials help tailor the burning rate to t the grain design and the thrust-time requirement.

Ingredient Nitrates ADN AN Perchlorate AP Nitramines HNIW HMX RDX HNF Nitrate Esters NG TMETN DEGDN NC BTTN Azides BAMO GAP AMMO
a

Tf , K (68 atm)

2.4 Plasticizer
It is a relatively low-viscosity organic liquid, which also contributes to the thermal energy on oxidation. Addition of plasticizer improves the processing properties of propellant remarkably. Some of the commonly used plasticizers are NG, GAP, and DEP.

1.72 1.73 1.95 1.96 1.90 1.82 1.86 1.60 1.47 1.39 1.65 1.52 1.28 1.27 1.26

35.8 87.3 70.7 90.0 18.1 14.7 17.2 90.7 106.0 103.5 61.4 92.97 53.3a 2.85a 4.32a

2062 1247 1405 3571 3278 3286 3090 3287 2839 2513 2425 3190 1725 1570 1536

2.5 Curing agent

A curing agent causes the prepolymers to form longer chains of larger molecular mass and interlocks between chains. Curing agents are also referred to as crosslinkers. They solidify and harden the binder. Although present in a minor amount, its presence impacts the propellant physical properties, manufacturability, and aging considerably. It is used only with composite propellants. HMDI, TDI, and IPDI are some examples of curing agents.

For polymers, the heat of formation is given in kcal per 100 g.

2.6 Other additives

Other substances in minor quantities are often added to solid propellants. Opacier is an additive to make the propellant more opaque to prevent radiative heating at places other than burning surface. Bonding agents improve the adhesion between the solid propellant and the motor case. Desensitizing agents are added to make the propellant resistant to accidental ignition from unwanted energy stimulus. Organic oxidizers, which are explosive organic compounds with NO2 radical or other oxidizing fractions, are also incorporated into the molecular structure (Sutton and Biblarz, 2001).

2.2 Binder
Binders provide structural glue or matrix in which solid granular ingredients are held together in a composite propellant. The raw materials are liquid prepolymers or monomers. The binder impacts the mechanical and chemical properties, propellant processing, and aging of the propellant. Binder materials typically act as a fuel, which gets oxidized in the combustion processes. Commonly used binders are HTPB, CTPB, and NC. Sometimes GAP is also used as energetic binder, which increases the energy density and performance of the propellant. HTPB has been abundantly used in the recent years, as it allows higher solid fractions (total 8890% of AP and Al) and relatively good physical properties.

3 CLASSIFICATION OF SOLID PROPELLANTS

Two main types of solid propellants (homogeneous and heterogeneous) are distinguished by their constituent ingredients and the condition in which they are interconnected. In a homogeneous propellant, the ingredients are linked chemically and the resulting physical structure is homogeneous throughout. Typical examples of homogeneous propellants are single-base (NC and additives), double-base (NC, NG and additives) propellants, and triple-base (NC, NG, NQ, and additives). In a heterogeneous or composite propellant, the ingredients are physically mixed, leading to a heterogeneous

2.3 Burning-rate catalyst

A burning-rate catalyst helps increase or decrease the propellant burning rate. It is sometimes also referred to as burning-rate modier. It can be used to modify the burning rate of specic grain design to a desired value. Substances such as iron oxide increase the burning rate, while lithium uoride decreases the burning rate (Sutton and Biblarz, 2001).

4 Rocket Propulsion physical structure. It is composed of crystalline particles acting as oxidizer and organic plastic fuels acting as binder to adhere oxidizer particles together. The ingredients often used as oxidizers are AP, AN, ADN, RDX, and HMX. The most commonly employed binders are either inert (typically HTPB, ballistic modiers, and cross-linking agents) or active (NG and NC, polyether polymer, and azide polymer such as GAP, BAMO, and AMMO) (Kubota, 2002).
Table 2. Typical ingredients of double base propellants. Type Plasticizer (oxidizer and fuel) Plasticizer (fuel) Binder Stabilizer Burning rate catalysts Opacier Metal fuel Visible ame suppressant Combustion instability suppressant Lubricant Ingredients NG, TMETN, TEGDN, DEGDN DEP, DBP, PU, TA NC EC, DPA PbSa, PbSt, CuSa, CuSt C Al K2 SO4 Al, Zr, ZrC Wax Percentage 2050 010 3050 Minor 03 Minor 015 Minor Minor Minor

3.1 Homogeneous solid propellants 3.1.1 Single-base propellants

The main ingredient in a single-base propellant is NC, gelatinized with ethyl alcohol as solvent. NG is made by acid nitration of natural cellulose bers from wood or cotton and is a mixture of several organic nitrates. Small amounts of chemical stabilizer and ame suppressant is also added. The propellant grain is coated with carbon black to keep the surface smooth.

3.1.2

Double-base propellants

Double-base propellants are one of the oldest propellant families. They are known to have nearly smokeless exhaust. The main ingredients in double-base propellants are NC and an energetic nitrate ester such as NG, TMETN, or DEGDN. These nitrate esters are liquid at room temperature and are used to produce a plasticized gel network resulting in a homogenous physical structure. The physiochemical properties of double-base propellants such as energy density, mechanical properties, and combustion characteristics and stability depend on the proportions of NC, nitrate ester, stabilizers, plasticizers, and other catalysts. Two types of double-base propellants, extruded and cast, are distinguished by the manufacturing process. By adding crystalline nitramines the performance and density can be improved. This is sometimes called as cast-modied double-base propellant. Aluminum can be added to suppress combustion instability as well as improve specic impulse. Table 2 summarizes typical ingredients of double-base propellants. Sometimes azides (GAP) are added to double-base propellants, which can act as a plasticizer. The energy density of the resultant propellant also increases. Table 3 shows the composition of a representative operational double-base propellant.

average molecular weight of the propellant combustion products. If instead of NQ, crystalline AP, HMX, or RDX particles are used then the propellant is called as composite modied double-base propellant (CMDB). The physical structure of CMDB is somewhat heterogeneous, and the physicochemical properties are intermediate between composite and homogeneous propellants.

3.2 Heterogeneous solid propellants

Heterogeneous propellants are mixtures of crystalline oxidizer particles binded within a polymeric fuel matrix. The commonly used oxidizers such as AP and AN produce high oxygen concentrations on thermal decomposition. The fuel used is the hydrocarbon-based polymers such as HTPB, CTPB, and PBAN. Typically high concentrations of oxidizers are used to give high specic impulse. Aluminum particles are usually added to further increase the specic impulse. Table 4 summarizes typical ingredients of composite propellants.

Table 3. Representative operational double-base propellant. Reproduced from Sutton and Biblarz (2001) c John Wiley & Sons Inc. Ingredients NC NG DEP EC K2 SO4 C Wax Wt % 51.5 43.0 3.2 1.0 1.2 <1 <1

3.1.3

Triple-base propellants

NQ can be added to a double-base propellant to form a triplebase propellant. NQ contains a relatively high amount of hydrogen atoms within its molecular structure that lowers the

Solid Propellants 5
Table 4. Typical ingredients of composite solid propellants. Type Oxidizer Fuel (binder) Fuel (energetic binder) Ingredients AP, AN, KN, ADN HTPB, CTPB, PBAN, HTPE, HTPS, PU GAP, BAMO, AMMO, BTTN, TMETN, TEGDN IDPI, TDI, MAPO, HDMI Fe2 O3 , FeO, nBF RDX, HMX, NQ, ADN MAPO IDP, DOP, DOA Al Al, Zr, ZrC Wt% 070 018 014

3.2.2

Nitramine composite propellants

These propellants contain crystalline nitramines such as RDX and HMX mixed with a polymeric binder. The polymeric binders are similar to the ones used in AP-based composite propellants. Nitramine composite propellants offer the advantage of reduced infrared emissions due to the reduced CO2 and H2 O concentration as compared to AP-HTPB propellants (Kubota, 2002).

Curing agent or crosslinker Burning rate catalysts High energy additive Bonding agent Plasticizer Metal fuel Combustion instability suppressant

0.23.5 0.23 040 Minor 07 030 Minor

4 COMBUSTION OF SOLID PROPELLANTS

4.1 Combustion wave structure
Understanding the thermal decomposition and combustion characteristics of energetic materials is crucial before they are employed in actual rocket motors. The combustion characteristics of concern include pressure and temperature sensitivities of the burning rate, propellant surface condition, and spatial distribution of energy release, temperature, and species concentrations. Combustion of a solid propellant involves an array of intricate physiochemical processes evolving from the various ingredients that constitute the propellant. Most of the individual ingredients in solid-propellant formulations can burn as monopropellants. It is thus important to study and characterize the burning properties of the specic ingredients that are used in solid propellants. To facilitate the understanding of burning propellants, an example of steady-state self-deagrating monopropellant RDX strand in a stagnant environment is presented. This example is representative of how a homogeneous solid propellant burns with a laminar-premixed ame. The entire combustion wave structure can generally be segmented into three regions: (i) solid phase, (ii) subsurface two-phase or foam layer, and (iii) gas phase as shown schematically in Figure 2. The underlying physical processes in each of these regimes are illustrated in Figure 3 (Beckstead et al., 2007). During burning, the propellant remains thermally stable in the solid phase until the temperature reaches the melting point at which thermodynamic phase transition occurs. Molecular degradation and evaporation then takes place in the liquid layer, generating bubbles, and forming a subsurface two-phase region, also referred to as a foam layer. The ensuing products subsequently undergo a sequence of rapid decomposition in the near eld immediately above the foam layer. The propellant burning-surface is usually dened as an interface between the foam layer and the gas-phase region, at which rapid gasication or decomposition takes place. In the gas-phase region, the species emanating from the burning surface react with

3.2.1

AP-composite propellants

AP-based composite propellants usually produce white smoke on combustion. This is because one of the combustion products HCl nucleates the condensation of moisture in the atmosphere, resulting into to fog or mist. Such smoke is not produced if AN is used, but it lowers the performance due to reduction in the specic impulse. AP-HTPB is the most commonly used combination because HTPB is considered to be a superior binder to achieve high combustion performance as well as desired propellant physical and mechanical properties. Azide polymers such as GAP and BAMO are also used with AP or AN to formulate composite propellants. Table 5 summarizes the composition of a representative composite propellant. The addition of metal fuel such as Al allows a signicant increase in the adiabatic ame temperatures of composite propellants. When aluminum is used, the combustion products contain a substantial amount of aluminum oxide (Al2 O3 ) in the chamber, which is mostly present in the liquid phase.

Table 5. Representative operational composite propellant. Reproduced from Sutton and Biblarz (2001) c John Wiley & Sons Inc. Ingredients AP PBAN AL Epoxy curative Weight % 70.0 16.0 11.78 2.22

6 Rocket Propulsion phase transition occurs from -HMX to -HMX at about 460 K (Beckstead et al., 2007). Both RDX and HMX monopropellant combustion exhibits a visible, denite foam layer at low and moderate pressures. The thickness of the foam layer and the gas-phase reaction zone vary with pressure. At one atm, the foam layer is 70 m and 130 m for HMX and RDX, respectively, and the gas phase reaches equilibrium within 4 mm and 1 mm from the burning surface (Kubota, 2002). At higher pressures (70100 atm), the foam layer is less than 20 m thick, and the equilibrium temperature is reached within 100200 m from the surface for nitramine monopropellants. The commonly used homogenous double-base propellants exhibit a two-stage ame structure at low pressures, as opposed to a single-stage ame structure shown in Figure 2. A visible primary ame (330400 C) is seen above the propellant-burning surface, followed by an induction or dark zone, which is practically invisible. The combustion that occurs inside the dark zone does not emit strong radiations in the visible spectrum. The thickness of this zone decreases with increasing chamber pressure. The dark zone is connected with a secondary luminous ame, which attains the nal ame temperature (2000 C). Combustion wave structure of a composite propellant is much different and more complex than that of a homogeneous propellant. One of the main differences is the diffusion ame structure of a composite propellant versus the premixed ame structure of a homogeneous propellant. For example, in the case of an AP/HTPB composite propellant, as shown schematically in Figure 4, the AP particles
Gas products N2, CH2O, N2O Tg 3000 K Evaporation of RDX Pure gas phase Liquid RDX Decomposition, evaporation and gas-phase reactions (bubble) Gas-phase reactions

Gaseous flame region

Foam layer Preheated zone 300 K 3000 K

Figure 2. Strand of RDX burning in a stagnant environment; selfsustained combustion. Reproduced from Beckstead et al. (2007) c Elsevier.

each other and/or decompose to form other species. A wide variety of oxidation reactions continue to occur and release an enormous amount of energy in the gas phase with the nal temperature reaching the adiabatic ame temperature. The heat feedback from the exothermic reactions occurring in the gas phase along with the condensed-phase heat release sustains the combustion process. The burning surface of a propellant grain recedes in a direction essentially perpendicular to the surface. The distance of the ame above the propellant surface is called the ame stand-off distance. As chamber pressure increases, the ame stand-off distance reduces. The specic processes in the condensed and gas phases depend on the particular ingredient under consideration. For example, in the case of HMX monopropellant, a polymorphic

RDX vapor

(Gas/condensed phase interface) Ts 600 K Liquid RDX Tm 478 K Foam layer

Cured GAP RDX

Solid phase

Figure 3. Schematic illustration of combustion-wave structure of RDX monopropellant; self-sustained deagration (not to the scale). Reproduced with permission from Liau and Yang (1995) c AIAA.

Solid Propellants 7 position, chamber pressure, and initial grain temperature, and so on. It can also be inuenced by phenomena such as erosive burning, radiative emissions, chamber pressurization rate, and combustion instability occurring inside the rocket motor. For most propellants, it is possible to express rb as an empirical function of chamber pressure given by rb = apn
AP deflagration zone AP melting layer Condensed phase HTPB HTPB
1

Gas phase

Diffusion flame

(1)

AP preheat zone

Figure 4. Schematic diagram of a simplied AP/HTPB combustion wave structure. Reproduced with permission from Cai, Thakre and Yang (2008) c Taylor & Francis.

Burning rate (cm s1)

rst decompose in the sub-surface region to form perchloric acid (HClO4 ), and the HTPB binder decomposes to produce fuel in the form of hydrocarbon fragments and hydrogen. HClO4 decomposes further to form smaller oxidizing species. These decomposed gases consisting of fuel and oxidizer components mix together to form a diffusion ame above the propellant-burning surface. The ame structure, however, is more complex as there are individual premixed monopropellant ames from AP and partially mixed ames from HTPB, in addition to the diffusion ame from their decomposition products. The luminous ame is attached to the burning surface and there is no dark zone as seen in double-base propellants. If aluminum particles are present in a composite propellant, they break loose from the surface and continue to react in the gas ow. More details about the phenomena of propellant chemistry and its combustion characteristics can be obtained from references (Yang, Brill and Ren, 2000) and (Kuo and Summereld, 1984).

where the burning rate is usually expressed in cm s or in s1 and the chamber pressure p is in MPa or psia. The constants a and n are called as the temperature coefcient and pressure exponent, respectively. The equation holds for all commonly used homogeneous and composite propellants. The constant a is not dimensionless and is inuenced by the initial propellant grain temperature. The exponent n is inuenced by the chamber pressure. For stable operation, n has a value greater than 0 and less than 1.0. A higher value represents rapid increase of the burning rate with pressure. Most operational propellants have the pressure exponent values between 0.2 and 0.6 (Sutton and Biblarz, 2001). For minimum variation in the thrust or chamber pressure, the pressure exponent and the temperature coefcient should be small. Figure 5 shows the burning rates of two different propellants as a function of chamber pressure. The linear nature of the log-log plot between the burning rate and pressure is evident. The slope of the line represents the pressure exponent. In practice, the burning rates of many actual propellants may deviate somewhat from the linear curve. The propellant burning rate is also sensitive to the initial grain temperature, which affects the propellant surface temperature and hence the rates of chemical reactions. The
101
AP/HTPB (composite) RDX/GAP/BTTN (homogeneous)

100

4.2 Burning properties

The performance of a rocket motor depends critically on the burning rate of the propellant. At any instant, the burning rate governs the amount of gas generated in the combustion chamber and the mass owing out from the motor. The burning rate (rb ) is a function of many parameters such as propellant com101 101 102 Pressure (atm)

Figure 5. Burning rates of AP/HTPB (73:27) (King, 1984) and RDX/GAP/BTTN propellant (mass ratio 71:9:20). (Parr and Hanson-Parr, 2001)

8 Rocket Propulsion temperature sensitivity of the burning rate is dened as the percent change of burning rate per degree change in propellant initial temperature at a particular chamber pressure and is given by, p = (ln rb ) T (2)
p 1

300

RDX HMX

Typical values of p range from 0.001 to 0.009 s . A lower value of p is preferred so that the burning rate is not sensitive to the initial grain temperature. Usually the propellant is conditioned for several hours before application to insure a uniform grain temperature. Table 6 lists the performance characteristics of a few practical solid propellants. Composite propellants exhibit a wide range of burning rates. For AP-based composite propellants, the burning rate strongly depends on the AP particle size. This is attributed to the diffusion ame structure that arises from the propellant surface. With a xed AP content in a formulation, the burning rate increases with decreasing particle size. The effect of particle size, however, decreases at higher pressures. The adiabatic ame temperature exhibited by the propellant is also an important property, as it directly inuences the specic impulse. The ame temperature is highly dependent on the composition of the propellant. Figure 6 shows the calculated variation of ame temperature and specic impulse as a function of oxidizer concentration (Kubota, 1984). In practice, the optimum mass loadings of AP (9093%) and AN (93%) as seen in Figure 6 cannot be achieved due the difculties associated with propellant processing (Sutton and Biblarz, 2001). The burning rate of a solid propellant can increase during the motor operation on account of a phenomenon called erosive burning. It is caused by the high-velocity ow of hot combustion gases over the burning propellant surface. Such a high-velocity ow enhances turbulent mixing in the boundary layers and the heat transfer to the propellant, thereby increasing its burning rate. This can affect the motor performance signicantly. While designing solid rocket motors, erosive burning should be either avoided or controlled to be reproducible from one motor to another so that the motor performance can be predicted accurately. The radiative emissions and combustion instability occurring inside a solid rocket motor are some of the other factors that can inuence the propellant burning rate signicantly. The radiative emission from the hot combustion products to the propellant surface can increase the burning rate. Combustion instability caused either by acoustic waves or by vortex shedding can also affect the burning rate. The ensuing ow oscillations lead to substantial increase in heat-transfer rate,

Specific impulse (sec)

AP

200

AN

KP

KN

100 60 (a) 4000

70

80 90 Oxidizer concentration (%)

100

RDX HMX Flame temperature (K) 3000

KP 2000

AP

KN

AN 1000 (b) 60 70 80 90 100

Oxidizer concentration (%)

Figure 6. (a) Variation of theoretical specic impulse (at frozen equilibrium); (b) combustion temperature as a function of oxidizer concentration for HTPB-based composite propellants. Data are for a chamber pressure of 68 atm and nozzle exit pressure of 1.0 atm. Reproduced with permission from Kubota (1984) c AIAA.

Solid Propellants 9
Table 6. Characteristics of some operational propellants. Reproduced from Sutton and Biblarz (2001) c John Wiley & Sons Inc. Flame temperature (K) 2250 3880 3440 3440 1550 Density (g cm3 ) 1.61 1.80 1.86 1.78 1.47 Burning rate (in s1 ) 0.051.2 0.21.0 0.253.0 0.252.0 0.060.5 Pressure exponent 0.3 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.6

Propellant Double base (DB) DB/AP/Al HTPB/AP/Al CTPB/AP/Al AN/Polymer

Metal weight % 0 2021 417 1517 0

Isp (s) 220230 260265 260265 260265 180190

gas velocity, and pressure, which in turn affect the instantaneous burning rate.

4.3 Ignition of solid propellants

The ignition of a propellant grain in a rocket motor is caused by the heat provided by the energy produced by an igniter attached on the motor. The igniters are usually solid propellants that provide a rapid heat release and high gas evolution. Extruded double-base propellants are often employed, usually as a large number of cylindrical pellets. One of the common igniter formulations uses 2035% boron, 6580% potassium nitrate with 15% of binder. Solid propellant ignition consists of a series of complex rapid events, which begin on receipt of a starting signal. The events include heat generation, transfer of heat from the igniter to the grain surface, spreading the ame over the entire burning surface, lling the chamber free volume with gas, and elevating the chamber pressure. The igniter generates the heat and gas required for motor ignition. During the ignition process, the heat generated from the igniter starts the burning of propellant grain. The ame spreads quickly until the complete grain is ignited. Then the chamber is completely lled with combustion products for reaching the operating pressure. The ignition process is usually completed with in a fraction of a second.

and the condition in which they are interconnected. The propulsive performance of a solid propellant critically depends on its combustion characteristics including pressure and temperature sensitivities of the burning rate, and spatial distribution of energy release, temperature, and species concentrations.

SYMBOLS
p T rb n a pressure temperature burning rate pressure exponent of burning-rate law temperature coefcient of burning rate

Greek Symbols
p temperature sensitivity of burning rate

Abbreviations of compounds
NC NG NQ AP AN KN ADN HTPB HTPE HTPS CTPB RDX HMX GAP nitrocellulose nitroglycerine nitroguanidine ammonium perchlorate ammonium nitrate potassium nitrate ammonium dintramide hydroxyl-terminated polybutadiene hydroxyl-terminated polyethylene hydroxyl-terminated polyester carboxyl-terminated polybutadiene cyclotrimethylenetrinitramine cyclotetramethylenetetranitramine glycidyl azide polymer

5 CONCLUSION
A solid propellant is composed of several chemical ingredients such as oxidizer, fuel, binder, plasticizer, curing agent, stabilizer, and cross-linking agent. The specic chemical composition depends on the desired combustion characteristics for a particular mission. Different chemical ingredients and their proportions lead to different physical and mechanical properties, combustion characteristics, and performance. Two main types of solid propellants (homogeneous and heterogeneous) are distinguished by their constituent ingredients

10 Rocket Propulsion BAMO AMMO HNIW, CL-20 HNF BTTN TMETN DEGDN TEGDN DEP DBP DOP DOA PU TA EC DPA PbSa PbSt CuSa CuSt HDMI TDI IDPI IDP MAPO nBF MAPO bis-azidomethyl oxetane 3-azidomethyl-3-methyl oxetane hexanitrohexaazaisowurtzitane hydrazinium nitroformate 1,2,4-butane triol trinitrate metriol trinitrate diethylene glycol dinitrate triethyleneglycol dinitrate diethyl phthalate dibutyl phthalate dioctyl phthalate dioctyl adipate polyurethane triacetin ethyl centralite diphenyl amine lead salicylate lead stearate copper salicylate copper stearate hexametheylene diisocyanide toluene-2,4-diisocyanide isophorone diisocyanide isodecyl pelargonate methyl aziridinly phosphine oxide n-butyl ferrocene methyl aziridinyl phosphine oxide

REFERENCES
Beckstead, M.W., Puduppakkam, K., Thakre, P. and Yang, V. (2007) Modeling of combustion and ignition of solid-propellant ingredients. Prog. Energy Combust. Sci., 33(6), 497551. Cai, W.D., Thakre, P. and Yang, V. (2008) Model of AP/HTPB composite propellant combustion in rocket motor environments. Combust. Sci. Tech., 180, 21432169. King, M.K. (1978) Model for steady state combustion of unimodal composite solid propellants. AIAA Paper 1978-216. Kubota, N. (1984) Survey of rocket propellants and their combustion characteristics, in Fundamentals of Solid Propellant Combustion, AIAA Progress Series, vol. 90 (eds K.K. Kuo and M. Summereld), AIAA, 891 pages. Kubota, N. (2002) Propellants and Explosives, Thermochemical Aspects of Combustion, Wiley-VCH, Weinheim, Germany. Kuo, K.K. and Summereld, M. (eds) (1984) Fundamentals of Solid Propellant Combustion, Progress Astronautics and Aeronautics, 90, AIAA, 891 pages. Liau, Y.-C. and Yang, V. (1995) Analysis of RDX monopropellant combustion with two-phase subsurface reactions. J. Propul. Power, 11, 729739. Parr, T.P. and Hanson-Parr, D.M. (2001) RDX/GAP/BTTN propellant ame studies, Combust. Flame, 127(12), 18951905. Sutton, G.P. and Biblarz, O. (2001) Rocket Propulsion Elements, 7th edn, John Wiley and Sons Inc. Yang, V., Brill, T. and Ren, W.Z. (eds) (2000) Solid-Propellant Chemistry, Combustion, and Motor Interior Ballistics, Progress Astronautics and Aeronautics, 185, AIAA, 990 pages.