Propellants Explosives Pyrotechnics, Vol.45, No.1, 141-146, 2020
Influence of MnO2 and Fe2O3 on the Burning Characteristics of AN/AP-based Composite Propellants
The partial substitution of ammonium perchlorate (AP) for ammonium nitrate (AN) improves the burning characteristics of AN-based propellants, because the advantages of AP propellants compensate for the drawbacks of AN propellants and vice versa. The burning characteristics of AN/AP-based propellants supplemented with MnO2 and Fe2O3 were measured, and the effects of these catalysts on the burning characteristics of the propellants were investigated using the collected data. The ignitability and the burning rate of the AN/AP propellant was improved by the addition of MnO2. The addition of the MnO2/Fe2O3 bicatalyst improved the ignitability of the propellants compared to adding only MnO2, but the improvement was identical to that obtained using Fe2O3. The burning rate increased in the order MnO2