Stability and performance of gun propellants incorporating 3,6-dihydrazino-s-tetrazine and 5-aminotetrazolium nitrate.
The addition of either 3,6-dihydrazino-s-tetrazine (DHT) or 5-aminotetrazolium nitrate (HAT-NO3) to nitrocellulose-based propellants were investigated. At 25% (m/m) concentration, DHT and HAT-NO3 had significant impact on the burning rate of the propellant, up to 80% higher than that of the reference propellant. DHT was found to have very poor compatibility with nitrocellulose and the nitrated esters used in the formulation despite the presence of stabilizer. This lead to a rapid autocatalytic decomposition reaction resulting in a deflagration. HAT-NO3 also had poor compatibility with the same materials. On the contrary, non-ionic tetrazoles were found to be fully compatible with nitrocellulose and nitrated esters based propellants. Most nitrogen-rich energetic molecules have been studied for their explosive characteristics. This study shed light on the potential use of these materials as burning rate modifiers for gun propellant applications, for which very little is known. Moreover, it investigates the stability of the formulations incorporating nitrogen-rich molecules, as a means of assessing the safe use of these novel propellants.
['Lavoie|Jonathan|J|', 'Petre|Catalin-Florin|CF|', 'Durand|Simon|S|', 'Dubois|Charles|C|']
Stability Propellant Burn rate Nitrogen-rich High nitrogen