AVS 51st International Symposium
    Plasma Science and Technology Monday Sessions
       Session PS2-MoA

Paper PS2-MoA10
Mass Spectrometric Determination of the Mechanism of the Chemically-Enhanced Reaction of Hydrogen Plasmas and Propellant Surfaces.

Monday, November 15, 2004, 5:00 pm, Room 213B

Session: Emerging Plasma Applications
Presenter: R. Blumenthal, Auburn University
Authors: R. Blumenthal, Auburn University
R. Valliere, Auburn University
Correspondent: Click to Email
The erosion rate of sprayed-on films of the propellants RDX and HMX under hydrogen plasma exposure are more than one-hundred times the erosion rate in similar argon plasmas. Varying the plasma components impingent on the propellant surface (i.e. ions, radicals, electrons and light) by changing the sample bias and shielding the propellant surface reveals a number of strong synergistic interactions between the individual plasma components in the erosion of the film. Early supersonic pulse, plasma sampling, mass spectrometric studies have indicated that the erosion rate has both a fast and a slow component, but interferences in the mass spectrum have prevented the unambiguous identification of the products, and hence, the chemical mechanism. In this work, the volatile products collected during the erosion of isotopically labeled RDX and HMX will be presented along with a chemical/physical mechanism for the reaction.