Study on the safety and combustion performance of PTFE/nitrate infrared pyrotechnic composition

The combustion performance of PTFE infrared pyrotechnic composition, which comprises PTFE as oxidation agent, hexafluoropropenevinylidenfluoride-copolymer as binding agent and Mg, Al₃Mg₄, Ti and B as combustion agents, was studied. DSC was used to analyze the decomposition process of pyrotechnic composition. The combustion heat and flame temperature were measured, and then the measured results were compared with the results calculated by REAL program. The infrared radiation intensity of 0.7~1.1 μm and the visible light intensity of 0.4~0.7 μm were measured. Results show that the decomposition process of TiH₂ pyrotechnic composition is different from the others, and it has three exothermic peaks; the combustion heat of TiH₂ pyrotechnic composition with the mass percentage of 55% is the highest, which is 14482 kJ/kg, and the descending order of the combustion heat is Al₃Mg₄, Mg and Ti. The flame temperature of Ti/PTFE/FPM is the highest, which is over 3000 °C, and the measured flame temperature is lower than the adiabatic combustion temperature calculated by REAL program. For TiH2/PTFE/FPM which stealth index is the highest, the ratio of infrared radiation intensity of 0.7~1.1 μm and visible light intensity is 0.112, so that it may be used as an infrared illuminating composition.