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Experimental investigation and burning-rate modeling of composite solid propellants with different aluminum particle sizes under microwave excitation
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DOI：10.1016/j.combustflame.2026.115036.png)
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Abstract
En 中文
Microwave excitation offers a promising approach for combustion control and enhancement of composite solid propellants (CSPs). However, the coupled effects of microwave power, chamber pressure, and aluminum particle size on burning-rate enhancement and flame-structure evolution remain insufficiently understood, especially under elevated-pressure conditions. In this study, the combustion performance of CSPs under different pressures and microwave powers was investigated, and the corresponding burning rate model was established. Three different propellant formulations with aluminum particle nominal diameters of 5 μm, 10 μm, and 15 μm were employed and both the burning rates and the flame structures were obtained under the microwave-enhanced high-pressure combustion experimental platform. The results showed that microwave excitation significantly enhances the burning rate for CSPs with different aluminum particle diameters while the amplitude of the burning rate gain is reduced as the combustion chamber pressure increased. Among the three different propellant types, the propellant with 10 μm aluminum particles demonstrates the most pronounced microwave response, which is consistent with the skin depth mechanism of microwave energy reflection. Both the flame height and its area become compact during employing moderate microwave power while the flame region expands and the flame luminosity increases at high microwave power employment. Based on Vieille’s law, a new solid propellant burning rate model was established which incorporates the effects of microwave power, combustor pressure, and particle size in a unified form. The constructed model shows good predictive capability, with an average deviation of <0.2 mm/s between the predicted and measured burning rates, indicating that the model can capture the influence of microwave excitation, the suppression of this enhancement under elevated pressure conditions, and the particle-size-dependent response of burning rate.
Keywords:
microwave excitation
composite solid propellants
burning rate modeling
aluminum particle size
high-pressure combustion
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