Material Modelling of Solid Gun Propellants: Experimental Results of Uniaxial Compression Tests, Finite Element Method (FEM) Simulations and Comparison

The mechanical behaviour of solid gun propellants has attracted significant interest in the field of ballistics over the past several decades, resulting in substantial research studies and publications. Previous investigations have primarily concentrated on uniaxial quasi‐static compression testing and dynamic characterization of large caliber gun propellants, attributed to their superior handling and machinability. However, there is a notable scarcity of publications addressing theoretical material modelling and finite element modelling (FEM) validated by experimental data. At Fraunhofer EMI, ongoing research focuses on characterizing medium and large caliber cylindrical gun propellants through uniaxial compression tests with strain rates in the range from 0.008 to 3 s −1 , alongside the development of finite element simulation models for predictive analysis of propellant behaviour. This paper presents a brief literature review of prior work on the mechanical characterization and material modelling of solid gun propellants, followed by experimental results from uniaxial compression tests conducted at Fraunhofer EMI on two common gun propellants: a reference triple base and JA2 as double base formulation. Additionally, preliminary results of finite element modelling of these compression tests using the commercial finite element code LS‐DYNA are reported.