Mechanical properties of HTPB-IPDI-based elastomers

A polyurethane elastomer having mechanical and adhesive properties suitable for liner applications in solid rocket propellants was developed using HTPB as the prepolymer and IPDI as the curing agent. The effects of the NCO/OH ratio (R value) and the trio/diol ratio on the mechanical properties of the polyurethane matrix were investigated. The reaction of HTPB and IPDI is followed by monitoring the changes in the IR absorption bands of the NCO stretching at 2255 cm⁻¹ and the CO stretching at 1730 cm⁻¹. It was found that the rate of the polyurethane formation obeys an overall second-order kinetics. At an R value of 1.15, the elastomer shows the maximum tensile strength and 200% elongation at break. The hardness, elongation, and the tensile strength reach a steady value around the same R value. The elastomers having a triol/diol ratio less than 0.03 show a decrease in the tensile strength and modulus with a concomitant increase in elongation. At a triol/diol ratio greater than 0.05, the tensile strength increases to about the same value for the liner composition without any triol component. The elongation reaches a steady level at a triol/diol ratio of 0.10 and one observes a steady increase in hardness up to 0.5. The modulus for the compositions having a triol/diol ratio greater than 0.1 is about 50% higher than that for the composition without triol. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 64: 2347–2354, 1997