Propellant grains and process for the production thereof

Abstract

A batch process produces unitary grains of propellant material. A constituent mixture of the material is prepared by mixing constituents while heating to at least a predetermined pouring temperature within a permissible temperature range. The constituent mixture is poured into a mold, while vibrating it to avoid voids or interfaces within the material, to cast a block of propellant. The cast block is cured for a predetermined period resulting in a cured, cast block of semirigid yet plasticly deformable material. A hydraulic press with a ram carrying a tubular cutting die is positioned, as by transferring the mold without its bottom to the press bed, for permitting grains to be cut by movement of the press ram by forcing the cutting die into the cast block to cut from the block a grain of the propellant material, then extracting the grain for further use. The cutting cycle is repeated until the cast block has yielded a satisfactory number of grains. Preferably, inert dowel plugs are inserted into each cut cavity after the grain is extracted to maintain dimensional stability of the block for successive cutting cycles. A propellant grain produced by such process is of unexpectedly high quality.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.