Investigation of quality and reproducibility of foamed propellants

Foamed propellants are based on crystalline explosives bonded in energetic reaction polymers. Due to their porous structures they are distinguished by high burning rates. Energy content and material characteristics can be varied by using different energetic fillers, energetic polymers and porous structures. Foamed propellants can be produced by the reaction injection moulding process (RIM). The properties of the propellants have to show a high reproducibility in order to provide a proper function in the weapon. Therefore a lot of quality studies of propellant charges have been performed. The evaluation of the quality of foamed propellants manufactured by the reaction injection moulding process by different methods will be presented in this contribution as well as the influence of some processing parameters on the quality of the foamed propellants. Especially, the homogeneity of the propellant will be under consideration. Therefore the propellants were cut into segments of which the density was measured.