Effect of the accelerated aging process on the thermal decomposition of LiAlH4-based composite solid propellants

Abstract

In the present work, a study was carried out on the effect of the accelerated aging process on the thermal decomposition of two composite solid propellants based on ammonium perchlorate (AP) and hydroxy‑terminated polybutadiene (HTPB). The first one (CP1) was enriched with aluminum (Al) powders, while the second (CP2) contained a mixture of aluminum and lithium alanate (LiAlH4) as a high-energy fuel additive. The thermal properties of the investigated propellant samples were determined using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and thermogravimetry (TG) techniques. The obtained results clearly demonstrated the effect of the aging process on the thermal degradation of the aged samples compared to the unaged ones, by shifting the temperature peaks of their main decomposition step to lower temperatures with a decrease in their DSC heat release. In addition, the residual unburnt propellant was increased, particularly for the complex metal hydride-based propellant. Kinetic modeling of the main thermal degradation phase, applying two advanced isoconversional methods, revealed a significant decrease in activation energy for the aged samples. Furthermore, the three-dimensional diffusion model involved during the investigated decomposition phase of the unaged samples was changed to a random nucleation model after 60 days of aging time.

Keywords

• Composite solid propellant
• Accelerated aging process
• Lithium aluminum hydride
• Thermal decomposition
• Kinetic modeling