Robert James Law

Preignition reactions of AP-HTPB propellants studied by IR spectrometry

IR absorption spectrometry was used to follow the disappearance of NH and CH bonds during the pyrolysis of a polymer film containing 30 weight percent ammonium perchlorate (AP). The remaining 70 weight percent consisted of a mixture of 92.5 weight percent hydroxyl-terminated polybutadiene (HTPB) and 7.5 weight percent isophrone diisocyanate (IPDI). The results indicate that polymer decomposition is induced by products of AP decomposition, and that about 2.5 CH bonds disappear for each NH bond that disappears. The diffusion process occurring in the later stages of the reaction is analyzed in an attempt to account for the unexpectedly low activation energy.