Characterization of thermally degraded energetic materials

Characterization of the damage state of a thermally degraded energetic material (EM) is a critical first step in understanding and predicting cookoff behavior. Unfortunately, the chemical and mechanical responses of heated EMs are closely coupled, especially if the EM is confined. The authors have examined several EMs in small-scale experiments (typically 200 mg) heated in both constant-volume and constant-load configurations. Fixtures were designed to minimize free volume and to contain gas pressures to several thousand psi. The authors measured mechanical forces or displacements that correlated to thermal expansion, phase transitions, material creep and gas pressurization as functions of temperature and soak time. In addition to these real-time measurements, samples were recovered for postmortem examination, usually with scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and chemical analysis. The authors present results on EMs (HMX and TATB), with binders (e.g., PBX 9501, PBX 9502, LX-14) and propellants (Al/AP/HTPB).