Exploring the Use of Aluminized Composites as Additives in Traditional Explosives

Metal-oxidizer systems can produce twice as much energy as traditional explosives, but since their energetic reactions require oxygen to diffuse into the fuel these reactions are typically in microseconds and too slow to support a detonation, which requires energy to be released in tens of nanoseconds. We have recently found that metal-oxidizer composites can be produced with nanostructures and microstructures that permit rapid non-diffusive mixing when initiated by detonation-strength shock waves, which supports the idea that properly designed composites can be used to make explosives more powerful. Finding the optimal composition, microstructure and nanostructure is difficult because there are so many possibilities. We have developed a tabletop high-throughput screening method that allows us to evaluate libraries of composite materials by watching them react in real-time with high-speed video and optical pyrometry while they are shocked with laser-launched flyer plates or embedded in detonating plastic-bonded explosives.