A numerical determination of complex solid gun propellant burn rates through closed bomb simulation

Abstract

Closed bomb testing is a prominent means of characterizing the combustion behavior of solid gun propellants. This sub‐scale test allows the propellant to burn in a constant volume environment, where the resulting pressure‐time trace can be collected via a pressure transducer. Historically, numerical procedures have been developed to determine the burn rates of the gun propellants from these pressure‐time traces; however, no standardized procedure exists to determine the burn rates of grains with variable surface thermochemistry and ignition criteria. To address this capability gap, a non‐linearly constrained, multivariate optimization algorithm has been developed to decouple propellant grain surfaces and determine surface‐specific burn rates [1]. In this work, the optimization algorithm as well as the legacy Excel‐based Closed Bomb (XLCB) program [2] were used to determine the burn rates of homogeneous, deterred, and layered propellants from experimental data. Closed bomb simulations using these burn rates were then conducted with the two‐phase, multidimensional, interior ballistics solver, iBallistix [3]. The maximum mean error between the simulated and experimental pressure‐time curves was 6.8 % for the optimization algorithm and 23.8 % for XLCB, showing a marked improvement with our new approach. Furthermore, the approach discussed herein improves burn rate predictions of complex solid gun propellants when compared with legacy closed bomb data reduction analysis programs.