Development of a composite solid propellant based upon phase stabilised ammonium nitrate

Astronautic Technology (M) Sdn. Bhd. (ATSB^®) has embarked on an in-house composite solid propellant development program as a means of capacity building in the field of propulsion and related technologies. A composite solid propellant based upon the utilization of a phase-stabilised form of Ammonium Nitrate as an oxidiser is being investigated as a means of developing a stable propellant that may be used for high altitude ballistic flights. Ammonium Nitrate were used in this work rather than the other industry standard solid propellant oxidiser such as fine grain Ammonium Perchlorate, largely due to the availability aspect and ease of handling of such material. In order to characterise the Ammonium Nitrate based propellant, a series of static firing tests utilizing three different type of propellant test motor have been performed to measure essential internal ballistic performances. The test motors are Small Length Test Motor, Full Test Motor and Flight Test Motor. A Data Acquisition (DAQ) system consisting of pressure transducer, load cell and thermocouple was used to record and analyse pressure, thrust and temperature data which characterises the propellant performance. The thrust and pressure profiles were plotted and ultimately compared with the simulated profiles generated by FPRED; a propellant ballistics analysis software for amateur rocketry.