REALIZATION OF AN ECO-FRIENDLY SOLID-PROPELLANT BASED ON HTPB-HMX-AP SYSTEM FOR LAUNCH VEHICLE APPLICATIONS

An eco-friendly higher solid loaded HTPB propellant with improved ener getics has been realized in small scale by incorporating 10-20% by wei ght of a high energy material namely, HMX. This propellant with 88% so lid loading has given good processability, mechanical properties and r educed pressure index. Pollution due to HCl smoke in the rocket exhaus t is reduced by 20 to 30% by weight. This propellant is expected to gi ve a vacuum specific impulse of 293 seconds at an operating pressure o f 70 bar and an area ratio of 10. Sub-scale motors of 2 kg size have b een successfully static tested to evaluate the performance.