Fabrication and thermal decomposition of glycidyl azide polymer modified nitrocellulose double base propellants

Glycidyl azide polymer（GAP） with the advantages of non-volatility and excellent thermal stability is a candidate as a replacement for nitroglycerine（NG） in a double base propellant. The GAP-NC double base propellants were formulated with GAP and nitrocellulose（NC） fibers. Tensile test and SEM characterization indicated that GAP-NC propellants had a homogeneous structure. Thermogravimetric analysis of GAP-NC propellants revealed that the onset decomposition temperature reached a high level ranging from 192.9 to 194.6 °C, which indicated that the substitution of NG with GAP contributed to the safe storage and process operations for double base propellant. The result analysis of decomposition products of GAP-NC propellants showed that the main gas decomposition products of the propellants were NO, NO2, CO, CO2, NH3, CH4, HCN, N2, CH2O and C2H4O. The thermal decomposition process of the specimens was proposed.