2.7 Combustion and thermal behaviour of electrically controlled solid propellants - Electrically controlled solid propellants (ECSPs) exhibit
- specific combustion characteristics
- achieve ignition and combustion only with sufficient electric power
- completely extinguish below certain threshold of power
- establish discreet impulse bits and multiple start/stop operations
- offer creative use in various applications such as gas generator systems, on-demand variable throttle control devices, pulsed plasma thrusters, micro-propulsion systems, long duration spacecraft applications, etc.
- Investigation of thermal behaviour & combustion mechanisms of ECSPs involve
- Development of new propellant formulations
- Studying the influence of oxidizer and metal content on the pyroelectric behaviour of ECSPs
- Thermal characterization of ECSPs using DSC/TGA and extraction of their reaction kinetic parameters (activation energy, pre-exponential factor, etc.)
- Establishing a combustion test stand for performing experiments
- Conducting tests under pressurized conditions using a windowed strand burner
- Obtaining their combustion characteristics (burning rates, flame temperature, combustion product analysis, etc.)
 |  | | Fig. 1 Preparation procedure of ECSPs | Fig. 2 DSC, TGA and dTG curves of non-metallized ECSP |  | | Fig. 3 Combustion test stand, propellant configuration, and propellant burning images from ECSP combustion experiments | |
