Experimental Study of Pyrolysis and Laser Ignition of Low-Vulnerability Propellants Based on RDX.

Low-vulnerability propellants are propellants designed to resist unintended stimuli to increase safety during transport, storage and handling. The substitution of usual nitrocellulose-based gun propellants with these new materials allows maintaining interior ballistics performances while increasing the safety. In this paper, the pyrolysis, ignition and combustion of such propellants are investigated in order to study conditions leading to a safe and reproducible ignition.