Thermal characterization of naturally aged gun and rocket propellants

In this work, seven different, naturally aged gun propellants and four rocket propellants have been investigated by heat flow calorimetry, ARC, mass loss and stabilizer consumption. The investigated gun propellants are A 5020, K 503, GK 5030, Feldgeschutz Rottweil 1909 (FG 1909), K 6210, US M5 and US M26, the rocket propellants are D 714, HV 5, DBE 40, DBE 470 each with ageing time ranging up to several decades of natural ageing. From heat flow calorimetry data, activation energies for stabilizer consumption, NC decomposition and autocatalytic reaction are determined as well as time of reaction change depending on temperature of 70 °C, 80 °C and 90 °C. Conversion-dependent activation energy is calculated using an iso-conversional method for the three temperatures. The results are compared to the mass loss results obtained at 90 °C. Based on these results, the overall stability of the propellants is assessed.