Ballistic Properties of Nitrocellulose based Propellants after Artificial Ageing

Abstract

It is a characteristic property of nitrocellulose-based propellants that the nitric ester constituents e.g. nitroglycerin, nitrocellulose, undergo a slow decomposition even in ambient temperatures. The degradation products formed, unless removed, can cause a reduction in chemical stability which can lead to cook-off / self-ignition due to the exothermic nature of reactions involved. In addition, they can lead to a loss of calorific value, changes in ballistic properties and cracking in large diameter charges. It is very important to control gun powder after artificial ageing of the parameters such as: burning behavior (linear burning rate and the pressure exponent), stabilizer depletion and content of the nitric oxide. Our work consisted accelerated ageing of different kind of nitrocellulose based propellants according to STANAG 4620 (AOP 48). The next step was to provide the research of ballistic (ballistic bomb) and chemical properties (High Performance Liquid Chromatography).