Detonation Performance of Four Groups of Aluminized Explosives

Abstract

Abstract:The detonation performances of TNT-, RDX-, HMX-, and RDX/AP-based aluminized explosives were examined through detonation experiments. The detonation pressure, velocity, and heat of detonation of the four groups of aluminized explosives were measured. Reliability verification was conducted for the experimental results and for those calculated with an empirical formula and the KHT code. The test results on detonation pressures and velocities were in good agreement with the predicted values when aluminum (Al) particles were considered inert. The experimental heat of detonation values exhibited good consistency with the predicted values when a certain proportion of Al particles was active. Ammonium perchlorate (AP) can effectively reduce the detonation pressure and improve the heat of detonation for the RDX/AP-based aluminized explosive. A comparison of the current test results and literature data shows that errors may exist in early test data. The test data presented in this study allow for an improved understanding of the detonation performance of the four groups of aluminized explosives.

The New Descriptors Effective on the Detonation Performance of Aluminized Explosives

“…[ 37 ] The sign of the n Al / n O coefficient is negative, indicating that the detonation heat decreases as aluminum atoms to oxygen atoms number ratio increases, indicative of insufficient oxygen to burn the aluminum particles completely, leading to incomplete burning aluminum and releasing less heat. This finding confirms the results of experimental assessments in reference [ 30 ] , where an increase in aluminum content would lead to maximum detonation heat, which if increased would decrease the detonation heat. Another point that can be deduced from the model observation is that the number of aluminum atoms in the three variables of Equation (1) are present i.e.…”

“…To compare the results obtained here with that of different methods, deviations of measured values from calculated values also calculated as well. The predicted values of heat tabulated in Table 1 and Table 5, are compared to KHT code prediction [ 31 ] and the method presented by Keshavarz et al [ 35 ] As observed in Table 1 and Table 5, although the KHT code prediction in most cases is better than this newly improved correlations, Equation (1), the advantages here are its easiness and reliability in specific which cannot be ignored. Moreover, the KHT code is not an effective method to be applied in predicting the detonation of RDX/AP‐based aluminized explosive's heat, while these newly proposed models obtain acceptable results in these cases.…”

A New Method for Predicting the Detonation Velocity of Explosives with Micrometer Aluminum Powders

“…The Al powders used in production of the HMX-based Aluminized explosives [35] is in average size of 13 mm. There are 5 % (mass fraction) inert binders in the aluminized explosive, and its influence on Q can be neglected due to the small content.…”

“…The molecular formula of RDX is C 3 H 6 N 6 O 6 , and its enthalpy of formation is 61.446 kJ/mol. The average size of Al additives in RDX-based aluminized explosive [35] is 13 mm and the content of the inert binder is 5 %. The calculated detonation velocities of the new method are listed in Table 3.…”

The Effect of HMX Impurity and Irganox Antioxidant on Thermal Decomposition Kinetics of RDX by TG/DSC Non‐Isothermal Method

“…The activation energy, pre-exponential factor and the best kinetic model for decomposition of explosives were determined according to the ICTAC kinetic committee recommendations [16]. Although thermal behavior and decomposition kinetic of RDX were reported by several researchers [17][18][19][20], to the best of the authors' knowledge, no study has yet been reported on the kinetic triplets for decomposition process of RDX in the presence of HMX and irganox 1010.…”