Strain rate and temperature-dependent shear fracture mechanism of high-energy propellant/liner interface zone

The shear fracture of the high-energy propellant/liner interface zone occurs in many application cases of solid rocket motors (SRMs). The shear fracture experiment development is thus a crucial issue. Here we aim to study the shear fracture mechanism of the interface zone under varying strain rates and temperatures. Shear experiments are carried out using self-made specimens containing prefabricated cracks. Force-displacement curves, experimental images, and fracture surface topographies are obtained at different strain rates and temperatures. The strain field of the specimen surface is analyzed using the digital image correlation (DIC) method. Additionally, the fracture surface topographies are analyzed using ImageJ software. The results show that the shear mechanical properties of the interface zone are strongly dependent on strain rates and temperatures. Specifically, the shear fracture strength and failure displacement exhibit a decrease with increasing temperature and an increase with increasing strain rate. The DIC analysis shows that the fracture strain of the interface zone typically ranges from 0.4 to 0.6. The analysis of the fracture surface topographies reveals that the shear fracture modes are predominantly mixed fractures, including propellant/liner interface fractures and propellant cohesive fractures. Since the propellant/liner interface is more sensitive to strain rate and the propellant is more sensitive to temperature, the propellant/liner interface fracture ratio increases from 1.99 % to 60.26 % with decreasing strain rate and temperature. The results show that the experimental method can effectively be used to study the shear fracture mechanism of the high-energy propellant/liner interface zone.