A Multifunctional Materials-by-Design Approach to Ignition Desensitization
Abstract
Next-generation aircraft will increasingly make use of internal carriages in order to reduce radar cross-section and drag. These internal carriages place additional volume and safety constraints on munitions designers, which ends up driving a need for novel energetic materials with high energy density and low sensitivity. Over the last few decades, energetic materials designers have discovered how to tune the sensitivity of polymer-bonded explosives (PBXs) by adjusting binder material and volume fraction, crystal composition and morphology, and porosity. With the exception of porosity, a decrease in sensitivity nearly always comes at the expense of performance metrics, e.g. detonation velocity and pressure. Learning how to improve sensitivity without adversely impacting performance may lead to a suite of munitions capable of better meeting the design constraints imposed by next-generation aircraft. The primary objective of the proposed research is to demonstrate the efficacy of a microstructural design strategy focused on multifunctional tailoring of the binder phase in reducing the sensitivity of energetic materials without adversely affecting detonation performance. It is hypothesized that the properties of the binder phase may be altered in such a way as to reduce the number and magnitude of energy localizations while simultaneously shielding energetic crystals from damage generated by a thermomechanical insult.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jan 12, 2023
- Accession Number
- AD1230589
Entities
People
- Xiaowei Zeng
Organizations
- University of Texas at San Antonio