OXIDIZER AND GAS-ENVIRONMENT EFFECTS ON AFTERBURNING REACTIONS AND EXPLOSION PERFORMANCES OF HMX-BASED THERMOBARIC EXPLOSIVES

Abstract

In this paper, confined explosions of HMX-based thermobaric explosives containing oxidizers in a spherical chamber were studied by changing the type of the oxidizer and the oxygen concentration in the environment. Based on an in-house developed optical-electrical system, the optical radiation signals of Al2O3 during the afterburning reaction were recorded. The results show that aluminum particles (5.4 µm) were strongly dependent on the oxygen concentration in the environment. Increasing the oxygen concentration can prolong the oxidation duration of Al and enhance the optical radiation intensity of Al2O3. The optical radiation result for Al2O3 in O2 and air showed that aluminum particles (the mass fraction was 33 %) were not completely oxidized in the air, and the oxidation duration was 500–700 µs. Moreover, the pressure data of the blast waves was obtained using a pressure-measurement system. The results showed that an increase in the oxygen concentration of the explosive could further enhance the total impulse, especially an addition of KP (its mass fraction was 10 %) could increase the total impulse by about 9 %.