Assessment of the Shelf Life of Composite Solid Propellants in Air and Nitrogen Atmospheres through Thermal Ageing

This work introduces dynamic mechanical thermal analysis (DMTA) as an efficient method for the assessment of the shelf life of solid composite solid propellants in air and nitrogen atmospheres. The samples were aged at three temperatures 323.15, 333.15, and 343.15 K for 60, 120, and 180 days. The two different methods of Arrhenius and Berthelot were used to compare the effects of air and nitrogen atmospheres on the ageing of composite solid propellants. Damping (Tan delta) of composite solid propellants was used to determine the shelf life of the samples based on the loss of half of the physical property Tan d (50% drop in damping). For the air atmosphere, the calculated activation energy for the degradation reactions of the samples was 86.26 kJ center dot mol(-1). Both models, Arrhenius and Berthelot, confirmed that the shelf lives of the samples under the nitrogen atmosphere are more than four times those in an air atmosphere.

Automated summary

This study introduced dynamic mechanical thermal analysis (DMTA) as an efficient method to assess the shelf life of solid composite solid propellants in different environments. The results showed that the shelf lives of the samples in nitrogen atmosphere are more than four times longer than those in air atmosphere.