Dynamic Mechanical and Molecular Weight Measurements on Polymer Bonded Explosives from Thermally Accelerated Aging Tests. I. Fluoropolymer Binders.

摘要

The dynamic mechanical properties and molecular weight distribution of two polymer bonded explosives, LX-10-1 and PBX-9502, maintained at 23, 60, and 74 exp 0 C for 3 years were studied. LX-10-1 is 94.5% 1,3,5,7-tetranitro-1,3,5,7-tetraazacyclooctane explosive bonded together with 5.5% Viton A fluoropolymer. PBX-9502 is 95% triaminotrinitrobenzene explosive bonded with 5% Kel-F-800 fluoropolymer. There are two mechanical relaxations in the LX-10-1 in the military temperature range. The relaxation at -10 exp 0 C is associated with the glass transition temperature of the Viton A binder. A second weak relaxation occurs at about 30 exp 0 C in all LX-10-1 samples tested. This relaxation is probably associated with small amounts of crystallinity in the binder although this has not been demonstrated. There is a slight increase in modulus of the LX-10-1 with accelerated aging temperature. Changes in the dynamic mechanical properties of PBX-9502 are ascribed to crystallization of the chlorotrifluoroethylene component of the Kel-F-800 binder. The molecular weight of the Viton A binder decreased slight with increasing aging temperature. Using the kinetics of random scission the activation energy for polymer degradation in the presence of the explosive was 1.19 kcal/mole. The Arrhenius preexponential term and activation energy predict an expected use-life in excess of 60 years for LX-10-1. The Kel-F-800 in PBX-9502 is also extremely stable. (ERA citation 06:014632)