Method of making a gun propellant composition
AssigneeThiokol Corporation
InventorsRussell Reed, Jr., Raymond M. Price
Life of this patent
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Abstract
HMX-containing gun propellants having good thermal stability and mechanical properties are made by mixing HMX with a polymerizable binder, a polyacrylate cross-linking agent and a polymerization catalyst and extruding the mixture into hot water to form cured pellets of propellant. The binder comprises a long chain acrylic monomer of 14 to 24 carbon atoms or a blend of such a long chain monomer and a shorter chain monomer having 6 to 13 carbon atoms. The molar ratio of short chain acrylic monomer to long chain monomer may vary from 0:1 to 3:1.
Claims14
The method of making a propellant which comprises preparing an extrudable mixture consisting essentially of a major amount of cyclotetramethylene tetranitramine and a minor amount of a curable binder, said binder comprising at least one alkyl acrylate or alkyl methacrylate of 14 to 24 carbon atoms, a polyacrylate cross-linking agent and a free radical catalyst, and extruding said mixture into hot water at a temperature sufficient to cure said binder and to form cured pellets of said propellant.
The method of making a propellant which comprises preparing an extrudable mixture consisting essentially of a major amount of cyclotetramethylene tetranitramine and a minor amount of a curable binder, said binder being a mixture of acrylate monomers comprising a first alkyl acrylate or alkyl methacrylate having 14 to 24 carbon atoms and a second alkyl acrylate or methacrylate having 6 to 13 carbon atoms, the molar ratio of said second acrylate to said first acrylate being from 0:1 to 3:1, a polyacrylate cross-linking agent and a free radical catalyst and extruding said mixture into hot water at a temperature sufficient to cure said binder and to form cured pellets of said propellant.
The method of making a propellant which comprises preparing an extrudable mixture consisting essentially of a major amount of cyclotetramethylene tetranitramine and a minor amount of a curable binder, said binder being a mixture of acrylate monomers comprising a first alkyl acrylate or alkyl methacrylate having 14 to 24 carbon atoms and a second alkyl acrylate or alkyl methacrylate having 6 to 13 carbon atoms, the molar ratio of said second acrylate to said first acrylate being from 0.4:1 to 2.5:1, a polyacrylate cross-linking agent and a free radical catalyst, and extruding said mixture into hot water at a temperature sufficient to cure said binder and to form cured pellets of said propellant.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.