Laminar burn rates of gun propellants measured in the high-pressure strand burner

The pressure dependence of the laminar burn rate of gun propellants plays a role in the design and behavior of high-performance guns. We have begun a program to investigate the effects of processing variables on the laminar bum rates, using our high-pressure strand burner to measure these rates at pressures exceeding 700 MPa. We have burned JA2 and M43 propellant samples, provided by Dr. Arpad Juhasz, ARL, from propellant lots previously used in round-robin tests. Our results at room temperature are in accord with other measurements. In addition, we present results measured for propellant that has been preheated to 50 degrees C before burning. We used our thermochemical equilibrium code, CHEETAH, to help interpret the simultaneous pressure and temperature measurements taken during the testing, and show examples of its use. It has been modified to provide performance measures and equations of state for the products that are familiar to the gun-propellant community users of BLAKE.