Mechanical and Combustion Characteristics of Ultra-thick Nitroguanidine Gun Propellant

doi:10.12382/bgxb.2024.1000

Abstract

Abstract:

With the transformation of the future war to all-domain operation mode,the ammunitions used for combat weapons will be inevitably subject to extreme high or low temperature in storage,transportation and utilization environments.Nitroguanidine gun propellant has high energy and low ablative properties,which is widely used in large-caliber weapons.In order to study the mechanical and combustion properties of ultra-thick gun propellant (4.2mm thickness) for a ship-borne large-caliber weapon,the thermal decomposition behavior,mechanical and combustion characteristics of ultra-thick nitroguanidine gun propellant with thickness of 4.2mm are studied by the differential scanning calorimeter-thermogravimetric analysis (DSC-TG),the closed bomb test,the charpy impact strength test and the critical crushing strength test of drop hammer,respectively.The structure morphology and composition of gun propellant is characterized through scanning electron microscope (SEM),Fourier transform infrared spectrometer (FT-IR) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS).Results demonstrate that the ultra-thickness nitroguanidine gun propellant has stable combustion behavior at different temperatures.The combustion curve is smooth without step,which conforms to the combustion law of gun propellant.The critical breaking height and impact strength of the ultra-thick nitroguanidine gun propellant are higher and larger than those of an approved azido-nitroguanidine gun propellant,under the conditions of the same thickness and drop weight,moreover,the impact-resistance strength of the simply supported beam is more than 1.6 times that of the azido-nitroguanidine gun propellant.It demonstrates that the mechanical properties of ultra-large thickness nitroguanidine gun propellant is considerable excellent.Additionally,the ultra-thick nitroguanidine gun propellant exerts good thermal stability.Hence,this present work prospectively to provide basic support and guidance for the development of ultra-thick gun propellant used by large-caliber weapon for shipborne and other high-performance combat platforms in the future.

Key words: nitroguanidine gun propellant, ultra-thickness, mechanical property, combustion behavior

CHEN Ling, LIANG Hongye, WANG Shouyu, WANG Lei, LIU Qiong, NAN Fengqiang, DU Ping, HE Weidong. Mechanical and Combustion Characteristics of Ultra-thick Nitroguanidine Gun Propellant[J]. Acta Armamentarii, 2025, 46(9): 241000-.

Figures/Tables 11

Fig.1 Ultra-thick nitroguanidine gun propellant

Fig.2 Closed bomb test system of gun propellant

Fig.3 Combustion characteristic curves of ultra-thick nitroguanidine gun propellant

Fig.4 Comparison of combustion characteristics of ultra-thick NQ gun propellant and azido-NQ gun propellant

Table 1 The critical impact crushing strengths of ultra-thick NQ gun propellant and azido-NQ gun propellant under low-,room- and high- temperature conditions

温度	落锤质量/kg	落锤高度/mm	发射药	临界冲击破碎强度/(kJ·m^-2)
低温	2	120	超大弧厚硝基胍发射药	8.178
低温	2	90	叠氮硝基胍发射药	6.093
常温	10	1050	超大弧厚硝基胍发射药	361.232
常温	10	900	叠氮硝基胍发射药	313.239
高温	10	750	超大弧厚硝基胍发射药	258.329
高温	10	550	叠氮硝基胍发射药	187.895

Table 2 The impact-resistance strengths of ultra-thick NQ gun propellant and azido-NQ gun propellant kJ/m2

发射药	高温	常温	低温
超大弧厚硝基胍发射药	22.83	17.03	9.78
叠氮硝基胍发射药	13.96	8.80	5.85

Fig.5 DSC and TG curves of ultra-thick NQ gun propellant and azido-NQ gun propellant

Fig.6 The morphology of cross section and profile of ultra-thick NQ gun propellant

Fig.7 The analysis of XRD and FT-IR of ultra-thick NQ gun propellant

Fig.8 XPS spectrum and high-resolution spectra of C 1s,O 1s,and N 1s regions of ultra-thick NQ gun propellants

Table 3 Comparison of the composition of ultra-thick NQ gun propellant with the standard formula composition %

发射药组分	超大弧厚硝基胍发射药组分含量	制式配方组分含量
硝基胍	47.76	47.0
NC	27.49	28.0
NG	22.21	22.5
K₂SO₄	1.02	1.0
2号中定剂	1.52	1.5

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