L-046 Gun propellant formulations and characteristics ; Formulations et caractéristiques de poudres pour armes

In March 1993, NIMIC prepared a compilation of formulations for insensitive munitions, together with their performance and safety characteristics. This document (Ref. NIMIC-MD-168-93) was originally published as "Confidential", and subsequently downgraded after a few minor modifications.

This compilation was to comprise three chapters: (1) Gun Propellants, (2) Rocket Propellants, (3) High Explosives. Only Chapters 1 and 3 could be incorporated in the published text, but the next update of the whole compendium will include all three chapters, and possibly a Chapter 4 on binders common to all types of formulations. However, since the completion of this general update might take a few more months, this report presents a partial and intermediate update limited to the data sheets of Chapter 1 "Gun Propellants" (both solid and liquid). It also includes:

• a sampling of a Russian database FLAME which gives several hundred formulations with associated performance and sensitivity data (to be utilized in the next upgrade of the compendium);
• a bibliography on HAN-based liquid gun propellants.

As is the case for the general compendium, this update is a research tool. To that end, it is not limited to qualified formulations: it lists many formulations which are still in the study phase, and even a few declared failures. In addition to the performance and sensitivity data which were given in the first compendiurn, it provides data on mechanical properties, which are one of the important factors governing the occurrence of delayed detonation.