Mechanical, Thermal Properties and Ablation Resistance of Unsaturated Polyester Inhibitor by α-Type Zirconium Phosphate and Multi-walled Carbon Nanotubes

Unsaturated polyesters (UP) as solid propellant inhibitor have been widely used in weapons and equipments, however, with the gradual improvement of solid propellant properties, higher and higher performance requirements are put forward for the inhibitors. In this paper, the mechanical and ablative properties of the UP inhibitor were improved by adding multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) and α-type zirconium phosphate (α-ZrP), the effect of the addition amount on the properties was also investigated. The results show that the addition of MWCNTs and α-ZrP can increase the tensile strength of the UP inhibitor. When the addition of MWCNTs and α-ZrP was 0.5 g and 3 g, respectively, the tensile strength of the inhibitor was 33.58 MPa, which increased by 55.7%. Meanwhile, the addition of MWCNTs and α-ZrP can significantly improve the heat and ablation resistance of the UP inhibitors. When the addition amount of MWCNTs and α-ZrP was 1 g and 3 g, the linear ablation rate is 0.41 mm/s, with a reduction of 25.5%. Therefore, MWCNTs and α-ZrP as reinforce and ablative resistant fillers show potential application prospect in solid propellant inhibitor field.