Innovative boron nitride-doped propellants

Defence Technology

卷:12

Samuel Sopok¹  Eugene Rozumov²  Henry Grau²  Kenneth Klingaman²  John Bolognini²  Thelma Manning²  Viral Panchal²  Carlton P. Adam²  Robin Crownover²  Richard Field²  Michael Fair²  Michael Beachy³  Christopher Holt³  Paul Matter³ 

[1] Benet Laboratory, Watervliet, NY, USA;

[2] US Army RDECOM ARDEC, Picatinny Arsenal, NJ, USA;

[3] pH Matter, LLC, Columbus, OH, USA;

关键词: Nano-boron nitride;    Additive;    Lubricant;    Gun barrel;    Wear and erosion;    Gun propellant;   

DOI  :  10.1016/j.dt.2015.10.001

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

The U.S. military has a need for more powerful propellants with balanced/stoichiometric amounts of fuel and oxidants. However, balanced and more powerful propellants lead to accelerated gun barrel erosion and markedly shortened useful barrel life. Boron nitride (BN) is an interesting potential additive for propellants that could reduce gun wear effects in advanced propellants (US patent pending 2015-026P). Hexagonal boron nitride is a good lubricant that can provide wear resistance and lower flame temperatures for gun barrels. Further, boron can dope steel, which drastically improves its strength and wear resistance, and can block the formation of softer carbides. A scalable synthesis method for producing boron nitride nano-particles that can be readily dispersed into propellants has been developed. Even dispersion of the nano-particles in a double-base propellant has been demonstrated using a solvent-based processing approach. Stability of a composite propellant with the BN additive was verified. In this paper, results from propellant testing of boron nitride nano-composite propellants are presented, including closed bomb and wear and erosion testing. Detailed characterization of the erosion tester substrates before and after firing was obtained by electron microscopy, inductively coupled plasma and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. This promising boron nitride additive shows the ability to improve gun wear and erosion resistance without any destabilizing effects to the propellant. Potential applications could include less erosive propellants in propellant ammunition for large, medium and small diameter fire arms.

【 授权许可】

Unknown