Spectroscopy and Kinetics of Intermediates Important in Nitramine Decomposition

Abstract

Abstract : This project has mainly involved investigation of the spectroscopy and kinetics of several important polyatomic intermediates in the decomposition of nitramines. These studies were carried out through the use of the recently developed technique of cavity ring-down spectroscopy (CRDS),1, 2 which is very sensitive means of performing absorption spectroscopy with a very long effective path length in a table-top apparatus. CRDS experiments were initially carried on electronic transitions in the UV and , more recently, on vibrational transitions in the IR. In addition, the Principal Investigator has been working with Drs. Andrzej W. Miziolek, Frank DeLucia Jr., and Michael J. Nusca at the Army Research Laboratory, Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD, as well as Dr. Valeri I. Babushok (NIST) in the kinetic modeling of the process of laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS). LIBS provides an analytical capability for the non-destructive, rapid and sensitive testing of a variety of materials.3, 4 The goal of this collaborative project is the development of kinetic and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) models for modeling of the processes that are responsible for the generation of LIBS signal.