Pelletized Suspension of High Density Energetics
Since I went to the trouble to make an account, I might as well dump some of the stuff that swirls around in my brain from time to time.
This is an idea that I've done a bit of thinking on. I tend to look at energetics from a physics standpoint first, and inquire as to novel methods of
"construction" of energetic systems. Not in application fashion, but in the way the materials themselves are arranged for performance. I'm going to
use an example, and feel free to kick my teeth in if this is without merit.
Explosive power of an energetic is largely determined by the physical property of its density. This is very well known around here. Density is also
one of the limiting factors in the plasticity of an EM. WHAT IF:
Imagine a suitable compound - for our purposes here I'll describe the system using ETN. At the beginning ETN crystals are combined with tiny amounts
of inert binder and are placed in a chilled hydraulic press and compressed under force. The result is a small pellet, or prill, of ETN that
solidifies at greater than usual densities. A large number of these pills are then mixed into a uniform suspension of similar - ordinary ETN mixed
appropriately with styrene butadiene (as cited by Quicksilver) or another similar plasticizer. The theory is that there should be some optimum
average density for such a prill mixture that the shockwave will propagate without dispersing the suspension and halting itself. In theory, the end
result will be an increase in overall blast pressure for a given charge volume.
Thoughts?
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