Structural Support of Aluminum Honeycomb on Cast PBX

Abstract

As the operating condition for the penetrating missile has been more advanced, the survivability of main charge has been strongly required when the warhead impacts the target. Lots of efforts to desensitize explosives such as the development of insensitive molecular explosives or optimizing plastic-bonded explosives(PBX) systems has been made to enhance the survivability of main charge. However, these efforts face their limits as the weapon system require higher performance. Herein, we suggest a new strategy to secure the survivability of main charge. We applied structurally supportable aluminum honeycomb(HC) structure to cast PBX. The aluminum HC structure reinforces the mechanical strength of cast PBX and helps it to withstand external pressure without the reaction like detonation. In this study, impact resistance character, shock sensitivity and internal blast performance of PBXs reinforced with HC structure were investigated according to the application of aluminum HC structure. The newly suggested aluminum HC structure applied to cast PBX was proved to be a promising manufacturing method available for high-tech weapon systems.