A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF TECHNIQUES FOR THE DETERMINATION OF PARTICLE PROPERTIES OF CRYSTALLINE EXPLOSIVES

摘要

When manufacturing high-performance polymer bonded explosives (PBXs), it is necessary to mix crystalline explosive powders with polymers, plasticisers and other ingredients and to process the resulting composition into a homogeneous, uniformly dense compact. Processes used to achieve this may include dividing the powdered explosive, weighing, wetting, slurrying, mixing, isolation, drying and pressing. Many of these processes are fundamentally dependent upon, or affected by, the particle characteristics of the crystalline explosive. In addition, the particle characteristics of explosives powders are fundamentally related to their safety and performance in a range of applications. Properties such as ease of densification, shock sensitivity, sensitiveness of the charge and powder impact sensitiveness are all known to be affected, to a greater or lesser extent, by the particle size and distribution. Consequently, the determination of particle characteristics is performed routinely for many explosive powders. Furthermore, it is essential to know and understand the particle size distribution when designing new formulations.