HIGH PERFORMANCE PROPELLING CHARGES

THE TECHNICAL OBJECTIVES OF THE PROJECT ARE TO IDENTIFY CANDIDATE HIGH-ENERGY HAN-BASED WORKING FLUIDS THAT CAN BE FORMULATED BY ON-LINE EMULSIFICATION TECHNIQUES TO PRODUCE STABLE EMULSIONS IN THE ELECTROTHERMAL-CHEMICAL (ETC) GUN CHAMBER. VARIOUS ENERGETIC FUEL COMPONENTS COMBINED WITH CONCENTRATED HAN SOLUTION AS THE OXIDIZER AND AN EMULSIFYING AGENT WILL BE EXAMINED FOR STABILITY AND PERMANENCE. THE EFFORT WILL BE CONDUCTED IN THREE PARTS, THE FIRST BEING A SURVEY OF ENERGETIC FUELS AND EMULSIFYING AGENTS, AND A THEORETICAL EVALUATION OF THERMOCHEMICAL EQUILIBRIUM PERFORMANCE FOR VARIOUS LEVELS OF ELECTRICAL ENERGY INPUT. THE SECOND PART INCLUDES THE EVALUATION OF ON-LINE EMULSIFICATION PROCESSING TECHNIQUES TO PRODUCE THE DESIRED EMULSIFIED WORKING FLUID. THE THIRD PART INCLUDES THE EXPERIMENTAL EVALUATION OF SELECTED PHYSICAL PROPERTIES AND SENSITIVITY CHARACTERISTICS OF PROMISING EMULSIFIED WORKING FLUID CANDIDATES. SUCCESSFUL COMPLETION OF THE SBIR PROGRAM WILL PROVIDE A BASIS FOR FULL SCALE DEVELOPMENT OF THESE NOVEL ENERGETIC WORKING FLUIDS FOR USE IN THE ETC GUN WITH LOGISTICS, SAFETY, ECONOMIC, PERFORMANCE, AND, MOST IMPORTANTLY, BALLISTIC CONTROL AND REPRODUCIBILITY ADVANTAGES OVER CURRENTLY UTILIZED WORKING FLUIDS.