Charles M. Jenkins

Modeling and simulation of pressure waves generated by nano-thermite reactions

This paper reports the modeling of pressure waves from the explosive reaction of nano-thermites consisting of mixtures of nanosized aluminum and oxidizer granules. Such nanostructured thermites have higher energy density (up to 26 kJ/cm3) and can generate a transient pressure pulse four times larger than that from trinitrotoluene (TNT) based on volume equivalence. A plausible explanation for the high pressure generation is that the reaction times are much shorter than the time for a shock wave to propagate away from the reagents region so that all the reaction energy is dumped into the gaseous products almost instantaneously and thereby a strong shock wave is generated. The goal of the modeling is to characterize the gas dynamic behavior for thermite reactions in a cylindrical reaction chamber and to model the experimentally measured pressure histories. To simplify the details of the initial stage of the explosive reaction, it is assumed that the reaction generates a one dimensional shock wave into an air...

CYLINDRICAL EXPLOSIVE DISPERSAL OF METAL PARTICLES

The explosive dispersal of densely‐packed metal particles in cylindrical RDX‐based charges is studied numerically in support of experimental trials. Simulations are conducted using a reactive multiphase fluid dynamic code. Spherical tungsten particles are applied in high metal mass fraction cylindrical and spherical charges in two configurations: a particle matrix uniformly embedded in a solid explosive versus an annular shell of particles surrounding a high‐explosive core. The effect of particle number density is investigated by varying the nominal particle diameter from 27 to 120 □m while maintaining a constant metal mass fraction. Results are compared with steel particles to evaluate the influence of material density on dispersal. The dispersal dynamics are recorded on wave diagrams and are observed at radial locations in terms of arrival time, velocity and particle concentration.

Fluid dynamic modeling of nano-thermite reactions

This paper presents a direct numerical method based on gas dynamic equations to predict pressure evolution during the discharge of nanoenergetic materials. The direct numerical method provides for modeling reflections of the shock waves from the reactor walls that generates pressure-time fluctuations. The results of gas pressure prediction are consistent with the experimental evidence and estimates based on the self-similar solution. Artificial viscosity provides sufficient smoothing of shock wave discontinuity for the numerical procedure. The direct numerical method is more computationally demanding and flexible than self-similar solution, in particular it allows study of a shock wave in its early stage of reaction and allows the investigation of “slower” reactions, which may produce weaker shock waves. Moreover, numerical results indicate that peak pressure is not very sensitive to initial density and reaction time, providing that all the material reacts well before the shock wave arrives at the end of the reactor.

Cylindrical converging shock initiation of reactive materials

Recent research has been conducted that builds on the Forbes et al. (1997) study of inducing a rapid solid state reaction in a highly porous core using a converging cylindrical shock driven by a high explosive. The high explosive annular charge used in this research to compress the center reactive core was comparable to PBXN-110. Some modifications were made on the physical configuration of the test item for scale-up and ease of production. The reactive materials (I2O5/Al and I2O5/Al/Teflon) were hand mixed and packed to a tap density of about 32 percent. Data provided by a Cordon 114 high speed framing camera and a Photon Doppler Velocimetry instrument provided exit gas expansion, core particle and cylinder wall velocities. Analysis indicates that the case expansion velocity differs according to the core formulation and behaved similar to the baseline high explosive core with the exit gas of the reactive materials producing comparable velocities. Results from CTH hydrocode used to model the test item com...

IMAGING HIGH SPEED PARTICLES IN EXPLOSIVE DRIVEN BLAST WAVES

This research describes a new application of a commercially available particle image velocimetry (PIV) instrument adapted for imaging particles in a blast wave. Powder was dispersed through the PIV light sheet using a right circular cylindrical charge containing aluminum powder filled in the annular space between the explosive core and exterior paper tube wall of the charge. Images acquired from each shot showed particle agglomeration and unique structures with the smaller particle diameters having developed structured appearances.

Characterization of Airborne Ultrafine and Nanometer Particles During Energetic Material Synthesis and Testing

Several experiments were conducted to improve our understanding of the properties of aerosol particles generated by detonation of conventional explosive and explosives prepared from nanophase materials. Initial number concentrations (∼ 10 6 −10 7 cm −3 ) of particles produced by detonations of the nano-explosives were comparable to that produced by conventional explosive. In general, data taken by a time-of-flight aerodynamic sizer and a scanning differential mobility analyzer for the first sample indicate a multi-modal distribution that there were a peak between 0.7 and 0.9 μm, and one and/or two peaks smaller than 100 nm depending upon the explosive used. The material properties and formulation of the explosive appear to play a significant role in the enhanced particle growth and increased deposition velocity leading to a higher reduction rate of total particle concentrations. Furthermore, the high level of ultrafine particles and nanoparticles in addition to the enriched toxic metals, the biological properties (e.g., the cellular toxicity) of the detonation particles need to be investigated in the near future.