Authors:

Bryan Gong

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About Paper:

The need for safer explosives is always sought after given the nature of their use cases. Thus, polymer bonded explosives (PBXs) are used due to their high energy density and improved safety. Conventional methods for forming PBXs involve compacting premade energetic molding powders and polymeric binders, which can lead to defects during pressing. These defects can form into hot spots causing increased sensitivity to shock. Powder deposition is an up-and-coming technology that has been used on the micron scale and could be used to control these defects. It actuates flow by collapsing a powder bridge that forms near the orifice, and given the right powder and nozzle parameter, the bridge can reform to stop flow. The goal of this research is to develop a better understanding of spray patterns and spreading and packing behavior of surrogate materials when depositing powder. Powder deposition was achieved using a custom mounted vibrating plastic hooper. Soda lime glass, sugar, and nylon powders were used to test the effect of various particle sizes (13µm - 212µm) and morphologies. Spray patterns and deposited line dimensions were explored by varying the height of the nozzle tip, voltage of the vibrator, and speed of the nozzle. Images were taken of the resulting powder deposition, and a high-speed camera was used to study the trajectory of powder out of the nozzle tip. These results will be used to determine what the best parameters are for using powder deposition which can be used as a promising alternative for creating PBXs. Keywords: Powder Deposition; Explosives; Polymer Bonded Explosives

Source:

Purdue University / 2024

Topics:

No topics listed

Co-authors:

Bryan Gong