TAILORING SOLID ROCKET PROPELLANT BALLISTIC RESPONSES THROUGH CHEMICAL ADDITIVES

This paper presents the static test evaluation of two solid propellant rocket motors using a Baseline Formulation (BF) and a Modified Baseline Formulation (ModBF). The objective was to assess the effect of propellant modification on motor performance parameters. Both motors were tested with 1.0 kg of propellant under identical conditions. Results show that ModBF out performed BF across key metrics. ModBF achieved a maximum thrust of 573 N and an average thrust of 359.2 N, representing increases of 19.1% and 18.9% over BF, respectively. Total impulse and specific impulse for ModBF were 897.8 Ns and 91.52 s, compared to 815.7 Ns and 83.15 s for BF, indicating a 10.1% improvement in both. Burn time was slightly reduced from 2.7 s to 2.5 s, with burn rate increasing from 0.014074 m/s to 0.01520 m/s. Maximum chamber pressure also rose from 1.02 MPa to 1.21 MPa. The improved performance of ModBF is attributed to enhanced combustion efficiency and higher burn rate. These findings provide a validated basis for further optimization of indigenous solid propellant formulations for improved propulsion performance.