Optimization Of Compressive Strength Of Mtv Decoy Flare Pellets By Taguchi Method

Magnesium/Teflon/Viton or MTV based pyrotechnic composition has been the most preferred composition for decoy flares against conventional heat-seeking missiles for more than four decades. MTV flares of standard configurations are available globally but the details of their manufacturing process including compacting pressure and compressive strength of the flare pellets have not been explicitly defined. The pellets are sub-assembly of the flares dispensed in flight and are critical for successful operations of the decoy flares. Hence, in the present paper, an attempt has been made to optimize the process parameters namely charge mass (A), applied load (B) and dwell time (C) which are responsible for performance variation of compacted standard configuration cylindrical pellets of 50 mm diameter. Each of the process parameters has been considered for three levels. L-27 array has been selected to represent these parameters and their interactions. The Taguchi robust experimental method arrived at the optimal result as A1B3C3 (100 g of charge mass, 78.48 KN of applied load and 20 s of dwell time). Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) highlighted that applied load followed by charge mass significantly influenced the density of the pellets. Finally, general regression equation was derived with R-2 value of 0.936 and validated with experimental results.