Abstract
The thermal aging properties including the gel fraction, the relative cross-linking density, the content of the plasticizers (BTTN and NG) were measured to analyze the aging characteristics of nitrate ester polyether (NEPE) propellant under three thermal air condition (60 degrees C, 70 degrees C and 80 degrees C). The results show that the gel fraction and the relative cross-linking density are decreased because of degradation of the binder matrix. The content of the plasticizers (BTTN and NG) are decreased and the reaction is the first-order reaction. The main reason of NEPE propellant performances deterioration are the volatilization, migration and decomposition of the nitrate ester plasticizers, the continued-curing reaction and the degradation of the binder matrix. The gel fraction can be used as the storage life predication parameter. This method can be expanded as a Non-destructive Evaluation (NDE) methods based on testing the gel fraction of the propellant samples from the grain.