IDENTIFICATION OF IGNITION CRITERIA FOR LOW VULNERABILITY AMMUNITION (LOVA) PROPELLANTS

LOVA PROPELLANTS ARE DESIGNED TO RESIST THERMAL THREATS, THUS INCREASING WEAPON SYSTEMS SURVIVABILITY. THE RESULTANTS CHARACTERISTICS MAKE THESE MATERIALS DIFFICULT TO IGNITE WITH CONVENTIONAL MATERIALS, RESULTING IN VARIABLE PERFORMANCE. LACK OF A RELIABLE IGNITER SYSTEM THREATENS DEPLOYMENT OF THESE NEEDED PROPELLANTS. LOVA IGNITION CRITERIA ARE NEEDED FOR IGNITER SYSTEM DEVELOPMENTS. NUMEROUS IGNITION STUDIES HAVE BEEN CONDUCTED, BUT, DRIVEN BY WEAPONIZATION REQUIREMENTS, SYSTEMATIC CRITERIA EXAMINATIONSHAVE BEEN LIMITED. AN INTEGRATED EXPERIMENTAL AND ANALYTICAL METHODOLOGY IS PROPOSED TO OVERCOME THESE SHORTCOMINGS. PROBABLE FIRST-ORDER CRITERIA WILL BE PRELIMINARILY STUDIED IN TWO CLOSEDBOMB INSTRUMENTS. DIMENSIONLESS GROUP ANALYSIS WILL BE EVALUATED AS A DATA CORRELATION TECHNIQUE TO DEFINE CRITERIA. CORRELATIONS WITH EXISTING DATA WILL BE ATTEMPTED. PHASE I RESULTS SHOULD GENERATE TENTATIVE CRITERIA RANKING. VALIDITY OF DIMENSIONLESS GROUP ANALYSIS METHOD SHOULD BE ESTABLISHED. METHODOLOGY FOR COMPREHENSIVE PHASE II EXPERIMENT AND ASSOCIATED DESIGNS WILL BE FORMULATED. TPL HAS EXTENSIVE EXPERIENCE IN ADVANCED IGNITER DESIGNS TO MEET RIGID PRESSURE-TIME REQUIREMENTS AND IS INVOLVED IN LOVA PROPELLANT RESEARCH. NEW MEXICO TECH'S CENTER FOR EXPLOSIVE RESEARCH WILL PROVIDE ENERGETIC MATERIALS EXPERTISE AND TEST FACILITIES AND DIAGNOSTIC INSTRUMENTATION. THE TEAM REPRESENTS A COMPREHENSIVE CAPABILITY FOR THE PROPOSED EFFORT.