A self-consistent method to research the influence of Al particle temperature on its post-detonation reaction

Although aluminized explosives are used worldwide, the post-detonation reaction of aluminum (Al) particles has not been sufficiently elucidated. Herein, a self-consistent calculation strategy, which performs iterative thermochemical calculations based on the first law of thermodynamics, has been proposed to study the post-detonation reaction of Al particles. By implementing a rod test driven by the detonation products of 3,5-trinitrohexahydro-s-triazine/Al (RDX/Al), the two-stage reaction of Al particles was researched by using a new thermochemical code that involved an Al particle temperature model and a chemical kinetic model. The key factors that determine the Al temperature were analyzed through the flow theory. The calculated results indicated that the Al particle temperature significantly influenced the Al particle reaction, which has rarely been studied before. Consequently, three conclusions were obtained: First, the overall reaction intensity of the Al particles increased significantly with an increase in the Al temperature. Second, in the detonation products, the ratio of the internal energy to the working energy increased with the Al temperature. Finally, a unique formula representing the incomplete oxidation of Al particles was derived. The reliability of this research was confirmed by performing three comparisons: First, the calculated temperature of the RDX/Al detonation products was observed to be in good agreement with the measured value qualitatively and quantitatively. Second, the calculated interval of the maximum internal energy increment in the RDX/Al detonation products overlapped with the calorimetric values. Third, the calculated Al reaction energy was in accordance with that observed using other thermochemical codes and the empirical method.