Micro-size Aluminum for environmental detonation

Abstract

The excellent performance of aluminized explosive results from the enormous energy released by aluminum powders (Al) in the post-detonation environment. Fast reaction of aluminum powders dominates the working ability of aluminized explosive, and subsequent slow reaction results in an enhanced blast effect. To research the fast reaction process, this paper has conducted Φ25 mm copper cylinder tests for cyclomethylenetrinitramine (RDX) containing different content (15% and 30%) and size (1.9, 9.8 and 47.1μm) of aluminum powders. The experimental results indicate that the working ability becomes much weaker as aluminum content increases from 15% to 30%, while a varying of powder size exhibits little influences. A new method to get a reliable equation of state (EOS) for detonation products with post-detonation burning was proposed to simulate the tests, and the calculations indicate that intensity of the fast reaction is a decreasing function of powder size, and the reacted content of aluminum within 30 μs decreases as aluminum content rises from 15% to 30%. A quantitative analysis of the simulations indicates that the fast reaction of aluminum does not rely on the powder size strongly, which is entirely different from the quasi-static process. This paper also researches the internal relation between the fast and slow reaction, and it explains the complex dependence of the fast and slow reaction on aluminum content and powder size. This work is important in designing and optimizing the properties of aluminized explosive.