EXAMINATION OF CHEMICAL APPROACHES TO STABILIZING COMPOSITE-PROPELLANT COMBUSTION

Acoustic-mode combustion instability has long plagued the solid-propel lant industry, and increased requirements For reduced-smoke propellant s, with the elimination of metal oxide particulate products that damp acoustic oscillations, is expected to exacerbate this problem. One str ategy for alleviating the problem involves identifying approaches to d ecrease a major source of acoustic energy, the transient burning-rate response of the propellant to pressure oscillations. In this study, a model was developed and used to define potential effects of varying ei ther oxidizer or fuel ablation activation energy on the pressure-coupl ed response function. Based on calculations with unimodal-oxidizer-siz e formulations, it appears that increasing oxidizer ablation activatio n energy at a fixed value of binder ablation activation energy or incr easing binder ablation activation energy at Bred oxidizer ablation act ivation energy can result in a significant reduction of this pressure- coupled burning rate response.