Solid Fuel rich Propellant Development for use in a Ramjet to  Propel an Artillery Shell

Velari Yogeshkumar; Nikunj Rathi; P. A. Ramakrishna

doi:10.14429/dsj.70.15061

Velari Yogeshkumar Department of Aerospace Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai - 600 036 https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9561-2023
Nikunj Rathi Department of Aerospace Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai - 600 036 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8174-0398
P. A. Ramakrishna Department of Aerospace Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai - 600 036 https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3228-7897

DOI: https://doi.org/10.14429/dsj.70.15061

Keywords: 155 mm shell, Artillery shell, Ramjet, Fuel-rich propellant, Range enhancement

Abstract

This study describes the development of a fuel-rich propellant to be used in a solid fuel ramjet to provide active propulsion to a 155 mm artillery shell. Fuel-rich propellants consisting of aluminum, ammonium perchlorate and hydroxyl terminated polybutadiene were developed and their ballistic properties were measured to choose the appropriate fuel for the ramjet application. The attempts made were to enhance the burn rates of the propellant to provide required burn rates at lowest possible pressures in primary combustor of the ramjet. The propellant selection was done with reference of working time period of the base bleed unit, to calculate the required burn rate and corresponding pressure in primary combustor. It was observed that the fuel rich propellant of composition 35% ammonium perchlorate with 1 % Iron oxide embedded on it, 30 % mechanically activated aluminum with 10% polytetrafluoroethylene, and 25 % HTPB was found suitable for the above application. This provided the higher burn rates among all developed propellants with high pressure index of 0.58. This makes it suitable for the ramjet requiring higher burn rates at lower possible primary chamber pressures. The Young’s modulus and tensile strength of this propellant was measured to be 1.73 MPa and 0.24 MPa, respectively.

References

Gany, A. Analysis of gun-launched, solid fuel ramjet projectiles. Int. J. Energ. Mater. Chem. Propuls., 1991, 1, 289-309. https://doi.org/10.1615/intjenergeticmaterialschemprop.v1.i1-6.210

Zhang, L.K. & Zheng, X.Y. Experimental study on thermal decomposition kinetics of natural ageing AP/HTPB base bleed composite propellant. Defence Technology, 2018, 14, 422-425. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dt.2018.04.007

Yu, W.J.; Yu, Y.G. & Ni, B. Numerical simulation of base flow with hot base bleed for two jet models. Defence Technology, 2014,10(3), 279-284. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dt.2014.06.010

Ye, R.; Yu, Y.G. & Cao, Y.J. Analysis of Micro-scale Flame Structure of AP/HTPB Base Bleed Propellant Combustion. Defence Technololgy, 2013, 9, 217-223. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dt.2013.12.001

Krishnan, S.; George, P. & Sathyan, S. Design and control of solid-fuel ramjet for pseudovacuum trajectories. J. Propuls. Power, 2000, 16(5), 815-822. https://doi.org/10.2514/2.5646

Gany, A. Effect of fuel properties on the specific thrust of a ramjet engine. Def. Sci. J., 2006, 56(3), 321-328. https://doi.org/10.14429/dsj.56.1895

Zhongqin, Z.; Zhenpeng, Z.; Jinfu, T. & Wenlan, F. Experimental investigation of combustion efficiency of air-augmented rockets. J. Propuls. Power, 1986, 2, 305-310. https://doi.org/10.2514/3.22887

Kubota, N.; Yano, Y.; Miyata, K.; Kuwahara, T.; Mitsuno, M. & Nakagawa, I. Energetic solid fuels for ducted rockets (II). Propellants, Explos. Pyrotech., 1992, 16, 287-292. https://doi.org/10.1002/prep.19920170609.

Nanda, J.K. & Ramakrishna, P.A. Development of ap/htpb based fuel-rich propellant for solid propellant ramjet. In 49th AIAA/ASME/SAE/ASEE Joint Propulsion Conference and Exhibit (JPC), San Jose, CA, 2013. https://doi.org/10.2514/6.2013-4171

Gany, A. & Netzer, D.W. Fuel performance evaluation for the solid-fueled ramjet. Int. J. Turbo Jet Engines, 1985, 2(2), 157-168. https://doi.org/10.1515/TJJ.1985.2.2.157

Rathi, N. & Ramakrishna, P.A. Attaining hypersonic flight with aluminum-based fuel-rich propellant. J. Propuls. Power, 2017, 33(5), 1207-1217. https://doi.org/10.2514/1.b36463

Maggi,F.; Colciago, S.; Paravan, C.; Dossi, S.& Galfetti, L. Exploratory investigations on metal-based fuels for air-breathing propulsion. Prog. Propuls. Phys., 2019, 11, 699-712. https://doi.org/ 10.1051/eucass/201911699

Marchesi, E.; Bandera, A.; Colombo, G.; Maggi, F.; Deluca, L.T. & Kosowski, B.M. Effects of metallized powders as fuel additives in ap/htpb-based solid rocket propellants. In XX Italian Association of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIDAA) Congress, Millan, Italy, 2009.

Hoon Shin, K.; Won, J.; Tak, H.; Choi, S.H.; Lee, W. & Lee C. A static combustion study on fuel rich propellant for ducted rocket gas generator. In 50th AIAA/ASME/SAE/ASEE Joint Propulsion Conference, Cleveland, OH, 2014.

Athawale, B.K.; Asthana, S.N. & Singh, H. Metallised fuel rich propellants for solid rocket ramjet: a review. Def. Sci. J., 1994, 44(4), 269-268. https://doi.org/10.14429/dsj.44.4182

Risha, G.A.; Evans, B.J.; Boyer, E. & Kuo, K.K. Metals, energetic additives, and special binders used in solid fuels for hybrid rockets. In Fundamentals of hybrid rocket combustion and propulsion, edited by Chiaverini, M.J. & Kuo, K.K. AIAA Inc., virginia, 2012, pp. 413-456.

Verma, S. & Ramakrishna, P.A. Effect of specific surface area of aluminum on composite solid propellant burning. J. Propuls. Power, 2013, 29(5), 1200-1206. https://doi.org/10.2514/1.b34772

Carlucci, D.E.; Jacobson, S.S. Ballistics Theory and design of guns and ammunation. Taylor & Francis Group, Boca Raton, 2007.

Sippel, T.R.; Son, S.F. & Groven, L.J. Aluminum agglomeration reduction in a composite propellant using tailored Al/PTFE particles. Combust. Flame, 2014, 161(1), 311-321. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.combustflame.2013.08.009.

Gaurav, M. & Ramakrishna, P.A. Effect of mechanical activation of high specific surface area aluminium with PTFE on composite solid propellant. Combust. Flame, 2016, 166, 203-215. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.combustflame.2016.01.019

Valluri, S.K.; Schoenitz, M.&Dreizin, E. Fluorine-containing oxidizers for metal fuels in energetic formulations. Defence Technology, 2019, 15, 1-12. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dt.2018.06.001

Gaurav, M.; Ishitha, K.; and Ramakrishna, P.A. A new and effective method to enhance the burn rate of composite solid propellants. In 9th Asia-Pacific Conf. on Combust., Gyeongju, Korea, 2013.

Ishitha, K., and Ramakrishna, P. A. Activated charcoal: as burn rate modifier and its mechanism of action in nonmetalized composite solid propellants. Int. J. Adv. Eng. Sci. Appl. Math., 2014, 6, 76–96. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12572-014-0112-z

Lieske, R.F. Determination of aerodynamic drag and exterior ballistic trajectory simulation for the 155 mm, DPICM, M864 base-burn projectile. Ballistic Research Laboratory, Technical Report BRL-MR-3768. June 1989.

Danberg, J.E. Analysis of the flight performance of the 155 mm M864 base burn projectile. Ballistic Research Laboratory, Technical Report BRL-TR-3083. April 1990.

Mukunda, H.S. Understanding aerospace chemical propulsion I.K. International Publishing House Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi, 2014, pp. 275.

Wingborg, N. Increasing the tensile strength of HTPB with different isocynynates and chain extanders. Polymer Testing, 2002, 21, 283-287.

Solid propellant grain structural integrity analyses. National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Lewis Research Center, Technical Report NASA-SP-8073. June 1973.

Kuo, K.K. First international symposium on special topics in chemical propulsion: Base bleed, Athens, Greece, 1988.