Nano Letters Volume Issue [Doi 10.2514%2F6.1997-3137] --

8/11/2019 Nano Letters Volume Issue [Doi 10.2514%2F6.1997-3137] --

1/5

Copyright

1997, American InstituteofAeronautics and Astronautics, Inc.

ASSESSMENTOFHTPBANDPBANPROPELLANT USAGE IN THEUNITED

STATES

Thomas

L.

Moore*

The

Johns Hopkins University

Chemical Propulsion Information

Agency (CPIA)

Columbia, Maryland

ABSTRACT

Thispaper discusses composite solid

propellants based upon the butadiene prepolymers

which make up the vast majority of current

production in the United Stateshydroxyl-

terminated polybutadiene (HTPB), and the

terpolymer

of

butadiene, acrylic

acid,and

acrylonitrile (PBAN). The objective of this study is

to

present a brief historical review of the

development of HTPB and PBAN propellants,

compare their characteristics, describe their

applications, and present astatisticalana lysis of

their

production

andusageformilitary,

launch,

and

space motors manufactured in the United States.

Using CPIA in-house and external resources, a

tabulation of all known major sys tems utilizing

HTPBandPBAN

propellant

wascompleted.

PBANproduction over the next ten yearswillbe

sustained nearly entirely

by the

production

of the

Space

Shuttle Reusable Solid Rocket Motor

(RSRM),

whileHTPBproduction

willbe

limited

primarily to tactical and space motors after

completion of deliveries of the Titan IV Solid

Rocket

Motor Upgrade (SRMU)

in

1999.

HISTORICAL

BACKGROUND

Composite solid propellants using

a

hydroxyl-terminated polybutadiene(HTPB)

or

polybutadiene-acrylicacid-acrylonitrile(PBAN)

binder system have been the choice for most solid

rocket motor systems developed and fielded in the

United States over the past twenty years.

Propellant based upon these binders account for

over

800 million pounds(360*

10

6

kg ) of domestic

production through the end of1996. Comparative

characteristics for typical aluminized formulations

of

these

two

types

of

propellant

are

presented

in

Table I.

il alillil

I

ps

,

lbf-sec/lbm(kN.s/kg)

Flame temp.,F (K)

Solids loading

Aluminum

content

Cross linking agent

Operating

temperatures,

F(K)

HazardClassification

PBAN

262

(2.569)

5600(3370)

84- 86%

16-17%

epoxides

oraziridines

40to 90

(278to305)

1.3

HTPB

264 (2.589)

5950(3560)

88

- 90%

18-20%

diisocyanates

-50 to150

(228to339)

1.3

PBAN

The

terpolymer

PBANwas

developed

in

1957 as an

outgrowth

of

po lybutadiene-acrylic acid

(PBAA),the

first hydroca rbon binder

to be

used

in

a rocket motor. The rather poor tear strength of

PBAA

prope llants

was

solved

by

adding

a

small

amount(-10%)o facrylonitrileas athird monomer

to thePBAAcopolymer, thus becoming knownas

polybutadiene-acrylic acid-acrylonitrile. The

adventof higher hydrogen contentliquid

polybutadiene polymers

offered

ameansto

substantially

lower

the

average molecular weight

of

motor combustion products while increasing flame

temperatureandenhancing thecombustionof

aluminized

composite formulations. The resulting

significant increase

in

specific impulse

(over

formerpo lysulfide formulations) madethe

polybutadiene propellantsysteman attractive

candidate

for the

launch stage

of the

M inuteman

Intercontinental Ballistic

Missile

1

.

*Sr. Research Engineer, Sr. Member AIAA

This paperisdeclaredaworkof theU.S. Governmentand

Is

notsubjecttocopyright protectionin theUnited States. Approvedfor

public release; distribution isunlimited. Work performed under contracts N00014-91-C-0001 and DSO700-97-D-4004 with the

Defense

Supply Center Columbus. CPIA

is a DoD

Information Analysis Center sponso red

by the

Defense Technical Information

Center.

1

American

Institute

of

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and

Astronautics


2/5

Copyr ight

1997,

American

Institute of

Ae ronautics

an dAstronautics, Inc.

Meanwhile,

the

United

Technology

Center

(later ChemicalSystemsDivision),formed

in

1959,

wasengaged

in company funded

research

to

develop PBAN

propellentsfor large

solid

motors.

Thisresearch resulted in thesuccessful testfirings

of

the87-inch

(2.21

m)diameterP-1solidmotorin

1960,

which

produced 200,000

Ibf (890

kN) of

thrust,and the 500,000-lbf

(2224

kN)P-2inlate

1961

2

. Soon the

development

of even

larger

motorscontainingPBANpropellant would begin in

earnest.

In 1962, Air

Forcefunding

was released to

advance the state-of-the-art of

largesolid

motors

forpotential applicationto DoD and

NASA

missions.

Aerojet,

United Technologies' Chemical

Systems

Division (UT-CSD),

Thiokol,

and the

formerLockheed Propulsion

Company (LPC) were

allinvolved. LPC andThiokol testeda number of

156-inch (3.96m)

diametermotors

while

Aerojet

successfully tested the largestsolidmotors ever

builtthree

260-inch

(6.60

m) motors

containing

nearly

1.7million

pounds

(770000

kg) ofPBAN

propellanteach. Although

the

156-in

and

260-in

designsneverbecameoperational, their

technology contributedto thefuture development

of

other

largelaunchboosters

2

.

Concurrentwith the development of

generallarge

motor

technology in the early 1960's

was

the development of the

Titan

III launch

vehicle

which

incorporated

two

120-inch

(3.05 m)

diameter

booster SRMs

containing

PBANpropellant

2

.

UTC/CSD developed and produced the

5-segment

Titan

III

SRMs,fromwhich

the

subsequent

5

1

/i-

segmentTitan

34D and7-segment TitanIVsolid

rocket

boosterswere

derived.

Withthegreatestamount of

history

behind

them, PBANs

have

longbeen amajorstapleof

production

for

companiessuch

as

Thiokol

and UT-

CSD. The

extensive experience

base and

solid

backgroundof

characterization

and aging

data

was

nodoubtafactorinselectingPBANas the

propellant

for the Space

Shuttle Solid

Rocket

Motor in

1974.

Witha

propellant

mass of more

than

1.1million

pounds (500000 kg),

thecurrent

four-segment

booster, known

as the

Reusable

Solid

Rocket Motor(RSRM ), is the largest

solid

propellant rocket motor everflown. The

RSRM

propellant, designated TP-H1148,

is

itself

a

minor

modification

of thefirstPBANto beusedin a

majorweapon systemTP-H1011

used

in the

Minuteman

II

first

stage.

HTPB

AlthoughAerojet

reportedly investigated

and demonstratedtheapplicationofHTPB

propellant

insmallmotorsas early as1961,PBAN

andcarboxyl-terminated

polybutadiene(CTPB)

remained

the preferred formulations forsolid

composite

rockets

untilthemid-1970's

3

.With the

desireforincreased propellantperformance,

HTPBswereviewedas seriouscontendersfor

future

solidrocketmotorsby the early 1970's.

Severalcompanies and governmentpropulsion

laboratories

were

active

in the

development

of

higherperformance

p ropellants at that time.

HTPB

propellant

wasusedand test

flown

in arocket motoras

early

as 1970. This

came

about

as theresultof a

NASA-sponsored1968

studywhich

sought

to

apply

advancedpropulsion

techniques to

small

rocket

vehicles. Aerojet

developed a

dual-thrust

radial-burning

HTPBgrain

design

for the

Astrobee

Dmeterological

sounding

rocket vehicle. TheHTPBpropellant was selected

based

upon

its favorable

mechanical

properties,

high impulse,andburnratecontrolwhich could

provide a

high

initialthrust and an extended

sustainedburning

time

approaching

that

of end

burning

grains. Followingeight

successful

static

tests,

two

Astrobee

D

vehicleswere successfully

launched from

White

SandsM issileRange

to an

altitudeof 320,000feet(97.5 km) on 8June1970

4

.

TheAstrobee D subsquently went into

production.

Based on theinitialsuccess of

this

and other motor

demonstrations,

otherprograms

began toincorporateHTPBpropellantssuchthat

these formulations have become the foundation for

nearly all weapon

system

rocket

propulsion

developedsincethelate1970's.

The use of

HTPB

propellantshaslargely

beenlimitedto

tactical,

air-launch,and upper stage

spacemotors. Eventhoughdemonstrated infull-

scale

motor tests in theearly1970's,thetransition

ofHTPB's

into fielded

systems

was

gradual.

By

thelate

1970's

andearly

1980's,

systems such as

Maverick, Stinger, Sidewinder,

andCastorIV

upgraded

from

older

composite propellants

to

more

desirable

HTPB

formulations. In

1989,

Aerojet

began

the

development

of the

Space

Shuttle

Advanced

Solid

Rocket Motor

(ASRM)

containing

an 88%solidsHTPBpropellant.

Designedto

improve

upon the performance of the

RSRM

andincrease Shuttlepayload capacity, the

ASRM programeventually

fell victim

to

government

budget

scrutiny

and was canceled in

October

1993.

At

about

the

sametime,however,

Hercules AerospaceCompany (nowAlliant

Techsystems) was

under

contractto develop the

SolidRocketMotorUpgrade (SRMU) for the Air

Force's

Titan

IV

launch

vehicle. Work on the

development

of the

SRMU

had begun in October

American

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of

Aeronautics

and

Astronautics


3/5

Cop yright 1997, American Institute

of

A eronautics

an d

Astronautics, Inc.

1987. TheSRMU,with

graph ite

composite case

and HTPB

propellant, improves

upon the

performance of the

CSD-manufactured

TitanIV

SRM

containing

PBANpropellant. Qualification

of

thenew booster wasaccomplishedin 1993, and

the SRMU

debutedon thesuccessful

initial

flight

of

the

Titan

IVB on February23,1997from Cape

Canveral. TheSRMUdesign representsthe

highestperformance

large

solid

propellant

space

booster

developed

and

qualified

to

date

2

.

Production of the15

flight

sets (30 motors)

ordered

bythe Air

Force

isexpectedtoconcludein 1999.

STATISTICAL

USAGE

Throughthe use of

both

CPIAin-house

and

external

resources,

a

tabulation

of all known

majorsystemsutilizing

HTPB

andPBAN

propellantswas

completed.

Anumberof

publications

5

'

6

'

7

'

8

were

valuableinthis

effort

and,

where

possible,

productionstatisticswere

verified

to the extentpossible with manufacturers.

Table II presents a

tabulation

ofPBAN

propellant use by selected major systems. The

propellant mass permotorand known motor

production quantitieshave been deleted for

weapon

systems.

In

somecases,

the

reported

quantity of motors

listed

in the

table

may exceed

that which is

generally

known to be undercontract

in order

toaccountfor

additional

cast g rainsor

motorslost

or

rejected

for one

reason

or

another.

Based

upon a1993Phillips Laboratory

survey

ofU.S.

propellant

manufacturers

9

, it was

determined

that for all

propellant

castinto full-scale

end

item

test motors and

deliverables,

an

additional 14.1%

of

ma terial

is

created

as a

result

oftestingor scrap. Thiswasfactoredin the final

estimatedtotal

production.

Atmorethan 550

million

pounds (250x1 0

6

kg), theproductionof

PBAN

propellant

has far

exceeded

any

other

single

type.

Figure

1

presents

a

breakdown

of

propellantusage by system. As expected, the

solidrocketboostersfor theSpaceShuttle account

for abouthalf of the

total

PBANpropellant

manufactured todate. The boostersmanufactured

byUT-CSD

for the

Titanfamily

of

launch vehicles

represent23% of thetotal propellant

produced,

followed

by theThiokolM55

M inuteman firststage

at

21%.

Thetabulationof HTPB

propellantusage

is

presentedin Table III and its distribution by

system inFigure2. It is

interesting

tonotethat

oneArmysystemalone,theMultipleLaunch

Rocket

System(MLRS)atover 500,000 units

Table II.

PBAN

PROPELLANTUSETHRUDEC 1996

S Y S T E M / M O T O R

156-inDia(Thiokol|

5 6 - i n

d ia

m o t o rs

156-6 in)

260-in

S L - 1

260-in S L - 2

260-in S L - 3

AlgolIIIA,S c o u tFS

B S D

120-in

F W - 4

F W - 5

H G V

Minuteman F S M 5 5

P -1

P - 1 - 2

P o s e i d o n

C 3 F S

S p a c e Shuttle F W C d e m o

S p a c e Shuttle R S R M

S p a c e

ShuttleSRM

Titan

3 4 D 5 - 1 / 2 s e g

Titan IIICID S t a g i n g Mtr

TitanIIIIIIIC

Titan III (MOD 7 - s e g UT-

TitanIV SRM

Titan

R e t r o

S R 5 5 - U T - 1

O t h e r dev,d e m o

m o t o rs

P R O P .

MASS,Ib

800,000

v a r i o u s

272,880

1,676,350

1,673,000

1,645,584

27,986

166,000

605

577

212,000

65,000

121,716

1,107,000

1,106,280

1,110,136

464,436

54

425,150

592,695

593,138

5 5

QTY.

MF'D

1

9

1

1

1

1

47

1

90

27

1

1

1

3

145

TOTAL L8

P R O D U C E D

800,000

4,359,000

272,880

1,676,350

1,673,000

1,645,584

1,315,342

166,000

54,450

15,579

212,000

105,017,031

65,000

121,716

23,287,800

3,321,000

160,410,600

68l 75,489,248

41j 19,041,876

I . O O S i 54,432

1 4 8 J 62,922,200

4

48

835

2,370,780

| 28,470,624

45,92

176,34

TOTAL PBAN

PROPELLANT IN ENDITEMS

E st

Additional

Propellant

T e s t e d

E s t

Additional

S c r a p Propellant

0.06E

0 . 0 7 :

PBANPROPELLANTMANUFACTURED

P R O D

D A T E S

964

964-68

966

965

966

967

1966

1965-74

1972-76

1967

1961-73

1961

1961

1970-76

1983-85

1987-

1979-85J

1979-89

1964-79

1962-79

1966-69

1987-96

1963-?

492,984,757

Ib

34,015,948

Ib

. 35,494,903Ib

562,495,608 Ib

48.5 )

22.9 )

H

Shuttle Boosters

I

Titan

Boosters

i Z2MinutemanII

|PoseidonC3

AllOthers

21.3 )

Figure

1.

PBANPropellantUsageDistribution

American

Institute

of

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andAstronautics


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Copyr ight 1997,American Institute of Aerona utics and Astronau tics, Inc.

Table

III.

HTPB P R O P E L L A N T

U SE

T H R U

DE C

996

T O T A L L B

P R O D U C E D

Maverick R S A e r o j e t )

M a v e r i c k

R S (Thiokol)

Sidewinder

Mk36 RS

StdMissile

II

Mk 104

StdMissile

II Mk 72

S t i n g e r Alt

Flight M o t o r

O t h e rdev,d e m o

m o t o rs

T O T A L HTPB

PROPELLANT

IN ENDITEMS

E st

A d d i ti o n a lPropellent T e s t e d

E s t

Additional

Scrap

Propellant

T O T HT PB P R O P E L L A N TM A N U F A C T U R E D

producedaccounts

for

nearly

60% of the

total

HTPBpropellant produced

through

1996. Atlantic

Research

Corporation

continuesto m anufacture

the

propulsion unit

for MLRS, and

recentlybegan

productionof anextended

range

version

designated

ER-MLRS.

Other significant

contributors to the HTPBproductionbase

have

included

Peacekeeper,Delta

GEM, Standard

Missile,

and

Titan

IV

SRMU.

(59.2 )

(7.7%)

(77%) (5.2%)'

,(4.5%)

Figure 2. HTPB

Propellant

UsageDistribution

SUMMARY

AND

CONCLUSIONS

Since thedevelopmentof PBAN in the late

1950's, morecomposite

propellant

has been

produced

from

this

terpolymer thanfrom anyother

single prepolymer

10

.

This

is due inlargepart to

the production

associated

with

the

Minuteman

II

firststageand theTitanand

Space

Shuttle

solid

rocket boosters. The

1960's

are known as the era

of

largesolidrocketmotordevelopment. It was in

themid-1960's that the

largest solid propellant

motors

ever

tested

were

built.

Substantial production of PBANwill

continueoverthe

next

10

years,although

thiswill

belargelylimited

to procurement of the

Reusable

SolidRocketMotor

(RSRM)

for the SpaceShuttle.

NASA's

nextintended

procurement

of 120 motors

will

providea

steady

annualproductionofover12

million

pounds

(5.4x1 o

6

kg) of PBAN

propellant

for

the next ten years.

Although Titan

IV boosterscontaining

PBAN

propellant remainon thelaunch

manifest

for

the near

future, production

has been

comp leted

as

the

Titancompletes

its evolution to the

IVB

configuration launcher whichwilluse the HTPB-

based

SRMU

for itslaunchesthrough 2005.

AmericanInstituteof Aeronautics andAstronautics


5/5

Copyr ight

1997,

American

Institute ofAe ronauticsan dAstronautics, Inc.

HTPBpropellantshave

primarily

been

utilizedfor tactical and

air-launchedsystems

requiring

a

wide

operational temperaturerange.

But the higherenergy HTPB

propellant

hascome

into its own as a

viable

optionfor

large

launch

boosters with thedevelopment, qualification,and

successful 1997

maidenflight

of theTitan

IVB

vehicle featuring theSRMU.

However,HTPB's

use in

largelaunch

motorsfor the

near

future

willlikelybe limited to

theSRMU

which, under

currentplans, will

conclude

production

in 1999. Asillustratedin

Figure3, thefutureproductionbaseof

HTPB

is not

as

stable

as PBAN. Frompeak ratesofover20

million

pounds peryearin thelate1980's

(primarily

due to MLRS), annual HTPBpropellantproduction

will normalize

to anaverage4.5million

pounds

(2.0x10

6

kg)

from

the

years 2000 through2005

based on

current system procurement

plans.

1997

1998 1999

2

2 1

2 2

2 3 2 4 2 5

Year

Figure3. H T P BPropellant Production

Forecast

As

current design

concepts for the Air

Force's

Evolved

Expendable Launch Vehicle

(EELV)

lack

a

solid rocket

booster system, the

application

of

HTPB

propellantsfor theforseeable

future

will

rest

primarilywith

small

and

medium

launch vehicle boosters

and weapon system

propulsion. Substantial

productionis

still

forseen

forweapon systemssuchER-MLRS,Standard

Missile,

AMRAAM,

PAC-3, and AIM-9X

Sidewinder.

Solidpropellantlaunchboosters

such

as

the

Delta

GEM,CastorIVA/IVB,and Castor

120 will

continue,

however,to contribute to the

HTPBpropellant

production

base.

R F R N S

1

Sutton,E. S.,

MortonThiokolInc., From

Polysul f ides to CTPB B i nd e r s - A Major Transition

in Solid Propel lant

B inder

Chemistry

AIAA-84-

1236 20th AIAA/SAE/ASMEJoint Propulsion

Conference,

11-13June

1984 Cincinnati,

OH.

2

Andrepont, W. C.,

Chemical Systems Division,

United

Technologies,andFelix,R. M.,SpartaInc.,

The History of Large

Solid

Rocket Motor

Development

in the

United

St at e s

AIAA 94-3057

30thAIAA/ASME/SAE/ASEE

Joint

Propulsion

Conference,

27-29

June

1994,

Indianapolis, IN.

3

Klager, K.,AerojetStrategic

Propulsion

Company,

Polyurethanes

th e M o s t Versati le B inder fo r

Solid

Composi te Propel lants

AIAA-84-1239 20th

AIAA/SAE/ASME

Joint

Propulsion

Conference,

11-

13

June

1984,

Cincinnati, Ohio.

4

Jenkins,

R. B. and

Taylor,

J.

P.,SpaceGeneral

Company;

and

Browne,

T. P. And

Briggs,

L.

A.,

AerojetSolid Propulsion Company,Astrobee D -

An Advanced Technology M eterological

Rocket

Vehic le AIAA 70-1387 AIAA 2ndSounding

Rocket

Technology Conference, 7-9December

1970,Williamsburg,VA .

5

Caceres,M.,

World

Space Syst e ms Briefing The

TEALGroup Corporation, Fairfax, VA.

6

Zaloga,

S .

J.,

World

M i s s i l e s

Brief ing

The TEAL

GroupCorporation, Fairfax,VA.

7

The

JohnsHopkins University,Chemical

PropulsionInformationAgency,

CP IA/M1

Rocket

Motor

Manu aland

CPIA/M2 Sol idP ropel lant

M anu al .

8

AerospaceIndustries

Association,Washington,

DC, Ae r o s pace Facts

and

Figures(annual

publication).

9

Robinson,K. P.,

Aerojet, Environmental Issues

fo r

Solid Rocket Motors: A Manufactur ing

Perspect ive

presented

at the

AIAA Conference

Large

Solid Rockets:

AdvancesThrough

Experience , 4-6 October 1994,Monterey,CA.

10

Mastrolia,

E. J. andKlager,K., Solid Propellants

B a s e d on Po l y b u tad ie ne B i nd e r s

Advances

in

Chemistry Series

88 ,

AmericanChemicalSociety,

Washington,DC1969,pp.123-125.

American Instituteof Aeronautics andAstronautics

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