Electro-Mechanical Response of Polymer Bonded Surrogate Energetic Materials with Carbon Nanotube Sensing Networks for Structural Health Monitoring Applications

Abstract

The addition of carbon nanotubes throughout the binder phase of energetic particulate composites is investigated in an effort to develop real-time embedded sensing networks for detection of small-scale damage in polymer bonded explosives undergoing mechanical load. The experimental effort herein focuses on the exploration of multi-walled carbon nanotube (MWCNT) concentration in energetic composite material; the fabrication of such specimen include the substitution of sugar as a mock energetic for the crystal particulate Ammonium Perchlorate (AP), an oxidizer most often used in solid rocket propellants. Further explored was the particulate embedded into a binder of PDMS, a polymeric silicone, as well as the addition of aluminum powder, a common combustive fuel in solid propellants, in the particulate. Electrical and mechanical properties of neat (no MWCNTs) energetics and MWCNT hybrid energetics were quantitatively evaluated under monotonic compression, and tension to failure. Noteworthy electro-mechanical response was obtained for these MWCNT AP hybrid energetics, justifying further study of CNT binder network formation for real-time electro-mechanical sensing in an effort for structural health monitoring (SHM) in energetics.