Promising HE for explosive welding of thin metallic foils

Experimental results are presented on the development of a high explosive (HE) suitable for the welding of thin metallic foils. The explosive is formed from a mixture of brisant HE (RDX or PETN) and an inert material, namely sodium bicarbonate. Sodium bicarbonate releases a rather large quantity of gas during decomposition, the effects of which are discussed. Measurements of detonation velocity and critical thickness for specific mixture combinations are presented. It is shown that particle size (of the RDX or PETN component) has a significant effect upon detonation velocity and critical thickness. Compositions were developed which have a stable detonation velocity ~2 km/s with a layer thickness ~ 2 mm.