Effect of void positioning on the detonation sensitivity of a heterogeneous energetic material

Although it is well-established that voids profoundly influence the initiation and reaction behaviors of heterogeneous energetic materials such as polymer-bonded explosives (PBX) and propellants, there has been little study of how void location in different constituents in the microstructures of such materials affect the macroscale behavior. Here, we use three-dimensional (3D) mesoscale simulations to study how void placement within the reactive grains vs the polymer binder influences the shock-to-detonation transition in a polymer-bonded explosive. The material studied here has a microstructure comprised of 75% PETN (pentaerythritol tetranitrate) grains and 25% hydroxyl-terminated polybutadiene polymer binder by volume. Porosities up to 10% in the form of spherical voids distributed in both the grains and polymer are considered. An Arrhenius reactive burn relation is used to model the chemical kinetics of the PETN grains under shock loading, thereby resolving the heterogeneous detonation behavior of the PBX. The influence of void location on the shock initiation sensitivity of the material is quantitatively ranked by comparing the predicted run distance to detonation (RDD) for each sample. The analysis includes inherent quantification of uncertainties arising from the stochastic variations in the microstructure morphologies and void distributions by using statistically equivalent microstructure sample sets, leading to probabilistic formulations for the RDD as a function of shock pressure. The calculations reveal that the location of voids in the composite microstructure significantly affects the RDD. Specifically, voids exclusively within the grains cause the PBX to be more sensitive (having shorter RDD) than voids in the polymer binder. Unique probabilistic relationships are derived to map the probability of observing RDD for each void location material case, allowing for prediction of initiation behavior anywhere in the shock pressure-RDD space. These findings agree with trends reported in the literature.

Automated summary

This study investigates the influence of void location within different constituents in the microstructures of polymer-bonded explosives (PBX) on the shock-to-detonation transition. Three-dimensional mesoscale simulations are used to examine the shock initiation sensitivity of PBX with voids placed within the reactive grains versus the polymer binder. The results reveal that void location significantly affects the detonation behavior of PBX, with voids exclusively within the grains causing greater sensitivity.