The U.S. Army has a need for more powerful propellants with balanced / stoichiometric amounts of fuel and oxidant to provide an advantage to its warfighters. In addition to improved power, balanced propellants have reduced blast force and secondary flash, an important advantage in terms of signature for the soldiers. However, balanced propellants lead to accelerated wear and erosion of gun barrels due to the higher flame temperature. Boron nitride (in the form of crystalline hexagonal BN or amorphous BN), has the ideal properties of a propellant additive. Boron nitride can form a lubricating coating on barrel walls. Boron can also dope steel, which drastically improves its strength and wear resistance. In this meeting, results from propellant characterization testing of boron nitride nano-composite propellants will be presented.
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