Avaliação da adição de nanopartículas de alumínio no desempenho de propelente sólido utilizado em minifoguetes

Abstract

The solid propellant is commonly used as a propelling charge in rockets and has the function of inducing movement to the body, causing it to be propelled upwards. It has in its formulation a mixture between potassium nitrate and sucrose, however, it is possible to add in its base formulation, metals such as aluminum through deposition techniques. This metal has the function of improving the mechanical and burning properties of the propellant, thus increasing its performance and efficiency. In view of this, the objective of this work was to deposit aluminum nanoparticles via magnetron sputtering on solid propellant used in rocket engines. For the tests, four different formulations of solid propellant were developed, among them the pure KNSu used as a standard without deposition, the KNSu/5min with 5 minutes of deposition, the KNSu/10min with 10 minutes of deposition and the KNSu/20min with 20 minutes of deposition of aluminum nanoparticles. From the deposition results, it was possible to determine the presence of aluminum nanoparticles, through qualitative analysis of scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and dispersive energy spectroscopy (EDS), in addition to the increase in performance in the parameters of total impulse, impulse specific, medium thrust, burning time and ejection speed of the exhaust gases. Among all samples, the one that stood out the most was KNSu/10min for all parameters analyzed, followed by the sample KNSu/5min, KNSu/20min and pure KNSu, respectively. Finally, taking into account all the results obtained, it is possible to state that the process of depositing aluminum nanoparticles via magnetron sputtering proved to be efficient both for increasing engine performance and for increasing the efficiency of the properties under study. [resumo fornecido pelo autor]