Ballistic effectiveness of superdense solid composite propellants with zirconium or zirconium hydride

Institute of Problems of Chemical Physics Russian Academy of Sciences Av. Acad. Semenov 1, Chernogolovka 142432, Russia

Abstract

The ballistic effectiveness of propellants depends not only on the value of specific impulse but also on many other performances, primarily on the density. Despite the density itself does not enter the expression of the rocket velocity (W = I_sp ln(M_launch/M_finish) where M_launch and M_finish are the rocket launch mass and its mass after the propellant is burnt, respectively), it in§uences the value M_launch/M_finish of the specific rocket. If one charges the construction of fixed volume with a more dense propellant, the ratio M_launch/M_finish increases and, consequently, W increases as well. In this paper, the possibility of creating solid composite propellants (SCP) with zirconium (density 6.49 g/cm³) and zirconium hydride (density 5.61 g/cm³ ) as energetic compounds instead of aluminum is considered. It was found for what kinds of engines these propellants have to be more effective than propellants based on aluminum.