Dynamic mechanical analysis of double base rocket propellants

The article presents dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) for solid rocket propellants testing. Principles of operation and measured values are briefly described. The authors refer to the previous research of PTFE material and literature data providing information about proper experimental conditions and influence of measurement frequency, load amplitude, and heating rate on the results of DMA tests. The experimental results of solid double-base rocket propellant testing obtained on the N Netzsch DMA 242 device are presented. Mechanical properties such as the dynamic storage modulus E´, the dynamic loss modulus E˝ and tan(δ) were measured within temperature range from (–120°C) to (+90°C) at the heating rate of 1 K/min. The test sample was subjected to a dual cantilever multi-frequency test. Special attention was paid to determination of the glass transition temperature of the tested propellant in reference to the NATO standardization agreement 4540 as well as influence of the measurement frequency on the glass transition.[b]Keywords[/b]: Dynamic mechanical analysis, solid rocket propellants, glass transition temperatur