The Effects of the Viscosity Reducing Additives on the Processability of Polymer-Bonded Explosive and Composite Solid Propellants

The purpose of this paper is to review the effect of polymer additives on the final viscosity of PBX slurry and viscosity reduction mechanism. Variables related to the formulation and manufacturing process affects PBX viscosity. PBX viscosity directly affects the process of mixing and charging of these materials and hence it is necessary that the viscosity values to be low in order to facilitate the mixing and casting these materials. In this study, a summary of the performance of polymer additives to reduce viscosity is studied. So the effect of additives on the experimental values of viscosity is investigated. Additives are divided into two groups: The first group contain materials such as lecithin and silane by reducing surface tension binder leading to complete wetting of solid particles and the viscosity decreases. The second group is compounds such as phosphate oxides, aziridines and blocking agents of curing reaction leading to increase pot life and decrease viscosity.