2024 AIChE Annual Meeting
Additive Manufacturing (FDM) of Viton-Ammonium Perchlorate-Aluminum (VAPAL)
The purpose of this study is to investigate the compatibility of ammonium perchlorate and aluminum (AP/Al) with Viton (VAPAL) for use in additive manufacturing (AM). After compatibility testing to ensure safety, VAPAL of various solids loading was successfully formed into filaments using a Filabot extruder. The procedure developed for suspending AP/Al in Viton was effective, with a theoretical maximum density of over 90%. The results from both sensitivity testing and analysis showed that Viton is compatible with AP/Al as the stability of the product increased when compared to ammonium perchlorate by itself. Additionally, results from a differential scanning calorimeter (DSC) show that the decomposition of VAPAL occurs near the same temperature as ammonium perchlorate, indicating that VAPAL is safe to print at fused deposition modeling (FDM) temperatures. Lastly, samples taken intermittently along an extruded sample show uniform density of AP/Al, validating our filament extruding process. Burn rates of the extruded filament were conducted for various solids loadings. Further research will be done to explore the feasibility of VAPAL within 3D printing. Challenges we expect with the next phase of research include how VAPAL will behave in the extruder head and what definition we can print with this filament.