Mussel-inspired PTW@PDA composites for developing high-energy gun propellants with reduced erosion and enhanced mechanical strength

The severe erosion and inadequate mechanical strength are prominent challenges for high-energy gun propellants.To address it,novel PTW@PDA composites was prepared by polydopamine(PDA)-modifying onto potassium titanate whisker(PTW,K_(2)Ti_(6)O_(13)),and after was incorporated into gun propellant as erosion-reducing and mechanical-reinforcing fillers.The interfacial characterizations results indicated that as-prepared PTW@PDA composites exhibits an enhanced surface compatible with propellant matrix,thereby facilitating their dispersion into propellants more effectively than raw PTW materials.Compared to original propellants,PTW@PDA-modified propellants exhibited significant less erosion,with a Ti-Kbased protective coating being detected on the eroded steel.And 0.5 wt%and 1.0 wt%addition of PTW@PDA significantly improved impact,compressive and tensile strength of propellants.Despite the inevitably reduction in relative force,PTW@PDA slightly increase propellant burning rate while exerting little adverse impact on propellant dynamic activity.This strategy can provide a promising alternative to develop high-energy gun propellant with less erosion and more mechanical strength.

Thermal Behavior,Nonisothermal Decomposition Reaction Kinetics of Mixed Ester Double-base Gun Propellants

The thermal decomposition behavior and nonisothermal reaction kinetics of the double-base gun propellants containing the mixed ester of triethyleneglycol dinitrate（TEGDN） and nitroglycerin（NG） were investigated by thermogravimetry（TG） and differential thermogravimetry（DTG）, and differential scanning calorimetry（DSC） under the high-pressure dynamic ambience. The results show that the thermal decomposition processes of the mixed nitric ester gun propellants have two mass-loss stages. Nitric ester evaporates and decomposes in the first stage, and nitrocellulose and centralite II（C2） decompose in the second stage. The mass loss, the DTG peak points, and the terminated temperatures of the two stages are changeable with the difference of the mass ratio of TEGDN to NG. There is only one obvious exothermic peak in the DSC curves under the different pressures. With the increase in the furnace pressure, the peak temperature decreases, and the decomposition heat increases. With the increase in the content of TEGDN, the decomposition heat decreases at 0.1 MPa and rises at high pressure. The variety of mass ratio of TEGDN to NG makes few effect on the exothermic peak temperatures in the DSC curves at different pressures. The kinetic equation of the main exothermal decomposition reaction of the gun propellant TG0601 was determined as： dα/dt=1021.59（1-α）3e-2.60×104/T. The reaction mechanism of the process can be classified as chemical reaction. The critical temperatures of the thermal explosion（Tbe and Tbp） obtained from the onset temperature（Te） and the peak temperature（Tp） are 456.46 and 473.40 K, respectively. ΔS≠, ΔH≠, and ΔG≠ of the decomposition reaction are 163.57 J·mol^-1·K^-1, 209.54 kJ·mol^-1, and 133.55 kJ·mol^-1, respectively.

Influence of Firing Temperature on Properties of Gun Propellants

Initial firing temperatures play an important role on the combustion rate of propellant. In gun propellants, initial temperature is a key factor for both accuracy and safety. Ideally, the initial temperature of the propellant should not influence the ballistic properties of the round. Nevertheless, constant initial temperature coefficients can not be achieved easily. This work focuses on the influence of the firing temperature on the ballistic properties, the mechanical integrity and the sensitivity to impact of nitrocellulose based propellants. Combustion rates have been determined by closed vessel tests. Ballistic properties have been investigated by firing 5.56 cartridges. The propellants have been conditioned at temperatures ranging from -54 ℃ to ＋71 ℃ before firing. The largest temperature coefficient is observed at high temperatures. The temperature sensitivity of the peak pressure in the combustion chamber can not be fully explained by the results from the closed vessel test. The authors speculated that the mechanical behaviour of the propellant grains at low temperatures influences also the overall ballistic properties of the round. Impact tests with propellants conditioned at low and high temperatures permit to investigate their mechanical strength under extreme temperatures and to better understand the propellant performance during firing. Tests on aged propellants have been conducted as well.

One-step green method to prepare progressive burning gun propellant through gradient denitration strategy

Gradiently denitrated gun propellant(GDGP)prepared by a“gradient denitration”strategy is obviously superior in progressive burning performance to the traditional deterred gun propellant.Currently,the preparation of GDGP employed a tedious two-step method involving organic solvents,which hinders the large-scale preparation of GDGP.In this paper,GDGP was successfully prepared via a novelty and environmentally friendly one-step method.The obtained samples were characterized by FT-IR,Raman,SEM and XPS.The results showed that the content of nitrate groups gradiently increased from the surface to the core in the surface layer of GDGP and the surface layer of GDGP exhibited a higher compaction than that of raw gun propellant,with a well-preserved nitrocellulose structure.The denitration process enabled the propellant surface with regressive energy density and good progressive burning performance,as confirmed by oxygen bomb and closed bomb test.At the same time,the effects of different solvents on the component loss of propellant were compared.The result showed that water caused the least component loss.Finally,the stability of GDGP was confirmed by methyl-violet test.This work not only provided environmentally friendly,simple and economic preparation of GDGP,but also confirmed the stability of GDGP prepared by this method.

Construction of smart propellant with multi-morphologies

Smart materials,which exhibit shape memory behavior in response to external stimuli,have shown great potential for use in biomedical applications.In this study,an energetic composite was fabricated using a UV-assisted DIW 3D printing technique and a shape memory material(SMP)as the binder.This composite has the ability to reduce the impact of external factors and adjust gun propellant combustion behavior.The composition and 3D printing process were delineated,while the internal structure and shape memory performance of the composite material were studied.The energetic SMP composite exhibits an angle of reversal of 18 s at 70°,with a maximum elongation typically reaching up to 280% of the original length and a recovery length of approximately 105%during ten cycles.Additionally,thermal decomposition and combustion behavior were also demonstrated for the energetic SMP composite.