Investigation of the properties of a kinetic mechanism describing the chemical structure of RDX flames. I. Role of individual reactions and species

For description of the chemical structure of RDX flames, key reactions and species are selected by numerical solution of the system of equations descr ibing one-dimensional flows of a viscous, heat-conducting, reacting gas at pressures of 0.5-90 atm. The kinetic mechanism consists of 263 elementary s teps and 43 species. Literature data on rate constants of elementary steps are considered. Flame structure is calculated for RDX combustion under irra diation. Various reaction paths in the RDX vapor decompositon zone are cons idered. The effects of the mass flow rate and two-dimensional nature of the gas flow on the flame structure are discussed. Calculation results are com pared to experimental data. The structure of various flame zones and the ro le of individual steps and species in the chemical process are investigated .