To solve the problems of long time and heavy workload in determining the content of deterrent (camphor) in single-base gun propellants by traditional analytical methods, a new method for rapid determination of the content of insensitive agent (camphor) in single-base gun propellant by near-infrared spectroscopy was established. By comparing the spectral characteristics of the single-base gun propellant grain sample and the desensitizer, the optimal modeling spectrum range of the desensitizing agent component was determined to be in the range of 8300-8510cm-1. The spectrum of the sample was preprocessed and the effect of several different spectral preprocessing methods was compared. The determined best spectral preprocessing method is a combination of multi-dimensional scattering correction (MSC) and first derivative. The near-infrared model of the desensitizing agent was established using partial least squares method, and the predictive ability of the model was verified. The results show that the model correction correlation coefficient (Rc 2) and verification correlation coefficient (Rp 2) of the desensitizing agent are 0.9723 and 0.9735, respectively. The root-mean-square-error of calibration (RMSEC) and root-mean-square-error of cross-validation (RMSECV) are 0.1636 and 0.1508, respectively; the root-mean-square-error of prediction (RMSEP) is 0.1827, and the ratio of the standard deviation of the validation set to the prediction standard deviation (residue prediction deviation RPD) is 6.87. Applying this method to the detection of camphor content in single-base propellant can make the predicted and standard deviations less than 0.2%, indicating that the method can realize the rapid detection of the content of the desensitizing agent component in the single-base gun propellant. © 2018, Editorial Board of Journal of Explosives & Propellants. All right reserved.
