Application of Thermally Sensitive Binders as an Ordnance Disposal Method.

摘要

The objective of the program is to develop experimental plastic boned explosives (PBXs) that will undergo controlled thermal degradation to give a processable material that can be removed easily from explosive casings and is therfore more readily disposable or recyclable. To achieve this objective the authors have continued development of azo-containing thermally degradable polyurethanes,which currently show the most promise as candidate binders. The authors also investigated thermally degradable carbonate-and amine oxide-containing polymers for potential use in thermally degradable PBXs in the same way that the azo-containing binder is being developed. During this contract the best candidate heat sensitive binder developed during previous work for NSSC was used to prepare an HMX-loaded PBX. The results indicate that the heat-sensitive binder approach should provide a practical means of facilitating future disposal and recycle of ordnance. Other heat sensitive groups were also prepared and tested to achieve binder decomposition at lower temperatures and shorter times than the binder described above. 1-Azobis-1-(p-hydroxyphenyl) ethane (PHPA) was incorporated into a linear polyurethane and the resultant polymer tested for its degradation characteristics.