Experimental Study of Pyrolysis and Laser Ignition of Low-Vulnerability Propellants Based on RDX

Low-vulnerability propellants are propellants designed to resist unintended stimuli to increase safety during transport, storage and handling. The substitution of usual nitrocellulose-based gun propellants with these new materials allows maintaining interior ballistics performances while increasing the safety. In this paper, the pyrolysis, ignition and combustion of such propellants are investigated in order to study conditions leading to a safe and reproducible ignition. Low-vulnerability propellants studied are made of different ratios of hexogen (RDX) and nitrocellulose (NC). Three compositions are studied by varying weight percentages of RDX and NC: 95-5, 90-10 and 85-15 for respective weight percentages of RDX-NC. Pyrolysis of these propellants is studied with two different experimental setups: a flash pyrolysis device linked to a gas chromatograph coupled to a mass spectrometer (Py-GC-MS) and a closed-volume reactor coupled to a mass spectrometer. Different molecules, like NO₂, CO, CH₃COCH₃ or CH₂NCH₂NCH₂, are obtained during the decomposition of these propellants. Laser ignition of these propellants is studied in a cylindrical closed-volume reactor using a laser diode. Several combustion characteristics, such as ignition delays, maximal overpressures and combustion rates are given for the three propellants using the pressure signals. Moreover, ignition energies are also investigated. Obtained results are compared to the few available literature data. A particular behavior is noticed for the 90-10 propellant. The experimental data collected should serve in the future to have a better understanding of the chemical reactions driving the combustion process of these low-vulnerability propellants.