The Interaction of Thermal Radiation and M-2 Double-Base Solid Propellant

Abstract

This paper reports the results of experimental and theoretical investigations into the effects of thermal radiation upon ignition and deflagration of M-2 double-base solid propellant. The values of the heat of reaction, the frequency factor and the activation energy in the Arrhenius expression describing the chemical reactions in the solid are determined by matching the numerical solutions of the mathematical model with three sets of experimental data. The effect of thermal radiation upon the propellant is only thermal. Theoretically the effect of thermal radiation on the burning rate is shown to be equivalent to an increase in initial temperature of the propellant only when the radiation absorption coefficient is small. For M-2 propellant, thermal radiation has insignificant effect upon the burning rate for a range of fluxes from 0 to 1.5 cal/cm²-sec.