Christopher Molek

High Strain Rate and Shock Properties of Hydroxyl-Terminated Polybutadiene (HTPB) with Varying Amounts of Plasticizer

Hydroxyl-terminated polybutadiene (HTPB) has long been used as a binder in propellants and explosives. However, cured HTPB polyurethanes have not been characterized in a systematic fashion as a function of plasticizer content. In this study, three isocyanate-cured HTPB variants with different amounts of plasticizer were formulated. The materials were characterized across a range of strain rates from 10−3 to 106 s−1. Group interaction modeling (GIM) was used to predict the material behavior based on the underlying structure of the polymer. Increasing the amount of plasticizer was found to reduce the strength of the material across all strain rates. GIM was found to overpredict the modulus but predicted the shock response very well.

Computational prediction of probabilistic ignition threshold of pressed granular octahydro-1,3,5,7-tetranitro-1,2,3,5-tetrazocine (HMX) under shock loading

The probabilistic ignition thresholds of pressed granular octahydro-1,3,5,7-tetranitro-1,2,3,5-tetrazocine explosives with average grain sizes between 70 μm and 220 μm are computationally predicted. The prediction uses material microstructure and basic constituent properties and does not involve curve fitting with respect to or prior knowledge of the attributes being predicted. The specific thresholds predicted are James-type relations between the energy flux and energy fluence for given probabilities of ignition. Statistically similar microstructure sample sets are computationally generated and used based on the features of micrographs of materials used in actual experiments. The predicted thresholds are in general agreement with measurements from shock experiments in terms of trends. In particular, it is found that grain size significantly affects the ignition sensitivity of the materials, with smaller sizes leading to lower energy thresholds required for ignition. For example, 50% ignition threshold of...

Coherent optical transients observed in rubidium atomic line filtered Doppler velocimetry experiments

We report the first successful results from our novel Rubidium Atomic Line Filtered (RALF) Doppler velocimetry apparatus, along with unanticipated oscillatory signals due to coherent optical transients generated within pure Rb vapor cells. RALF is a high-velocity and high-acceleration extension of the well-known Doppler Global Velocimetry (DGV) technique for constructing multi-dimensional flow velocity vector maps in aerodynamics experiments [H. Komine, U.S. Patent No. 4,919,536 (24 April 1990)]. RALF exploits the frequency dependence of pressure-broadened Rb atom optical absorptions in a heated Rb/N2 gas cell to encode the Doppler shift of reflected near-resonant (λ0 ≈ 780.24 nm) laser light onto the intensity transmitted by the cell. The present RALF apparatus combines fiber optic and free-space components and was built to determine suitable operating conditions and performance parameters for the Rb/N2 gas cells. It yields single-spot velocities of thin laser-driven-flyer test surfaces and incorporates ...

A combined matrix isolation spectroscopy and cryosolid positron moderation apparatus

We describe the design, construction, and operation of a novel apparatus for investigating efficiency improvements in thin-film cryogenic solid positron moderators. We report results from solid neon, argon, krypton, and xenon positron moderators which illustrate the capabilities and limitations of our apparatus. We integrate a matrix isolation spectroscopy diagnostic within a reflection-geometry positron moderation system. We report the optical thickness, impurity content, and impurity trapping site structures within our moderators determined from infrared absorption spectra. We use a retarding potential analyzer to modulate the flow of slow positrons, and report positron currents vs. retarding potential for the different moderators. We identify vacuum ultraviolet emissions from irradiated Ne moderators as the source of spurious signals in our channel electron multiplier slow positron detection channel. Our design is also unusual in that it employs a sealed radioactive Na-22 positron source which can be translated relative to, and isolated from, the cryogenic moderator deposition substrate. This allows us to separate the influences on moderator efficiency of surface contamination by residual gases from those of accumulated radiation damage.

Benchtop energetics progress

We have constructed an apparatus for investigating the reactive chemical dynamics of mgscale energetic materials samples. We seek to advance the understanding of the reaction kinetics of energetic materials, and of the chemical influences on energetic materials sensitivity. We employ direct laser irradiation, and indirect laser-driven shock, techniques to initiate thin-film explosive samples contained in a high-vacuum chamber. Expansion of the reacting flow into vacuum quenches the chemistry and preserves reaction intermediates for interrogation via time-of-flight mass spectrometry (TOFMS). By rastering the sample coupon through the fixed laser beam focus, we generate hundreds of repetitive energetic events in a few minutes. A detonation wave passing through an organic explosive, such as pentaerythritol tetranitrate (PETN, C5H8N4O12), is remarkably efficient in converting the solid explosive into final thermodynamically-stable gaseous products (e.g. N2, CO, CO2, H2O…). Termination of a detonation at an ex...

Rubidium atomic line filtered (RALF) Doppler velocimetry

We report recent improvements to our Rubidium Atomic Line Filtered (RALF) Doppler velocimetry apparatus [M.E. Fajardo, C.D. Molek, and A.L. Vesely, J. Appl. Phys. 118, 144901 (2015)]. RALF is a high-velocity and high-acceleration adaptation of the Doppler Global Velocimetry method for measuring multi-dimensional velocity vector flow fields, which was developed in the 1990s by aerodynamics researchers [H. Komine, U.S. Patent #4,919,536]. Laser velocimetry techniques in common use within the shock physics community (e.g. VISAR, Fabry-Perot, PDV) decode the Doppler shift of light reflected from a moving surface via interference phenomena. In contrast, RALF employs a completely different physical principle: the frequency-dependent near-resonant optical transmission of a Rb/N2 gas cell, to encode the Doppler shift of reflected λ0 ≈ 780.24 nm light directly onto the transmitted light intensity. Thus, RALF is insensitive to minor changes to the optical pathlengths and transit times of the Doppler shifted light, ...

Time-of-flight mass spectrometry of laser exploding foil initiated PETN samples

We report the results of time-of-flight mass spectrometry (TOFMS) measurements of the gaseous products of thin-film pentaerythritol tetranitrate [PETN, C(CH2NO3)4] samples reacting in vacuo. The PETN sample spots are produced by masked physical vapor deposition [A.S. Tappan, et al., AIP Conf. Proc. 1426, 677 (2012)] onto a first-surface aluminum mirror. A pulsed laser beam imaged through the soda lime glass mirror substrate converts the aluminum layer into a high-temperature high-pressure plasma which initiates chemical reactions in the overlying PETN sample. We had previously proposed [E.C. Fossum, et al., AIP Conf. Proc. 1426, 235 (2012)] to exploit differences in gaseous product chemical identities and molecular velocities to provide a chemically-based diagnostic for distinguishing between “detonation-like” and deflagration responses. Briefly: we expect in-vacuum detonations to produce hyperthermal (v∼10 km/s) thermodynamically-stable products such as N2, CO2, and H2O, and for deflagrations to produce ...

Shock and High Strain Rate Characterization of HTPB with Varying Plasticizer

Hydroxyl-terminated polybutadiene (HTPB) has long been used as a binder in propellants and explosives. However, cured HTPB rubbery polyurethanes have not been characterized in a systematic fashion as function of plasticizer content. In this study, three isocyanate-cured HTPB variants with different amounts of plasticizer have been formulated. The materials were characterized using quasi-static and dynamic compression experiments. Additionally, the shock Hugoniot was measured on the two extremes of the material—no plasticizer and maximum plasticizer.