The Ignition and Combustion of Aluminum in Composite Propellants

Black powder is commonly used for ignition of propellants in solid rocket motor. However, the condensed products of black powder will affect the size accuracy of condensed combustion products during the combustion of solid rocket motor. To solve this situation, a “clean” ignition technology, laser-induced ignition, was used to replace the traditional method of ignition. Besides, the ignition performance of aluminized composite propellant and agglomeration/combustion processes of aluminum particle were investigated. Moreover, it was discussed that the application prospects of laser-induced ignition technology in solid rocket motor from the perspective of particle size, especially the condensed combustion products size distribution generated during pressurization. Therefore, an experimental system for the investigation of ignition and agglomeration /combustion processes was developed using the laser-induced ignition and visualization techniques was presented. Furthermore, the properties of condensed combustion products were discussed in this review, and it found the multimodal nature of the condensed combustion products size distribution function. The investigation in this paper showed that the application of laser-induced ignition techniques, instead of the use of ignition composition, prove useful to avoid the plume pollution during pressurization. It is also found that the aluminum powder is more different to ignite than aluminized propellants and rough surface of propellants is easier to ignite. The work also provides a technical basis for the subsequent application of laser-induced ignition technology to solid rocket motors.