Abstract: Black powder is a classic ignition powder, but its combustion performance in low pressure (high altitude) environment has been rarely studied. In order to research the combustion performance of black powder at low pressure, the burning rates of black powders with differential densities at differential temperatures and differential pressures are measured using an optic-electric target method. The research results show that the burning rate of black powder decreases linearly and rapidly with the drop of pressure, and the black powder can not be ignited or burning constantly at the pressure of ≤20 kPa. The burning rate of black powder increases slowly as the decrease of density or the rise of temperature, and the effect of density or temperature on the burning rate of black powder can be gradually increased or reduced with the decrease in pressure. In general, compared with density and temperature, the pressure has more important effect on the burning rate of black powder. The change of the burning rate of black powder with pressure and temperature is established based on the mathematical simulation. Key

Key words: blackpowder, optic-electrictargetmethod, burningrate