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8172891 
Meetings & Symposia 
Combustion mechanisms of bimodal and ultra-fine aluminum in ammonium perchlorate solid propellant 
Dokhan, A; Price, EW; Seitzman, JM; Sigman, RK 
2002 
English 
An experimental investigation was carried out to evaluate the combustion behavior of aluminized, ammonium perchlorate composite propellants, with various Al particle sizes, including bimodal aluminum size distributions using ultra-fine aluminum (UFAl, ~0.1μm) as the fine component. It was found that the burning rate could be increased several fold with UFAl, with major increases produced by an aluminum blend with only 20% UFAl under some conditions. Presence of UFAl had a major effect on the appearance of the flame, and on the amount and size distribution of the Al2O3 product particles. Explanations of the burning rate effect of fine Al are proposed that involve rapid Al combustion, and include Al ignition and oxidizer availability as important variables. Some possible causes of the effects on the product oxide size are also discussed. © 2002 A. Dokhan, E. W. Price, J. M. Seitzman and R. K. Sigman.