Explosively driven low-density foams and powders
- Orinda, CA
- Simi Valley, CA
- Livermore, CA
- Danville, CA
Hollow RX-08HD cylindrical charges were loaded with boron and PTFE, in the form of low-bulk density powders or powders dispersed in a rigid foam matrix. Each charge was initiated by a Comp B booster at one end, producing a detonation wave propagating down the length of the cylinder, crushing the foam or bulk powder and collapsing the void spaces. The PdV work done in crushing the material heated it to high temperatures, expelling it in a high velocity fluid jet. In the case of boron particles supported in foam, framing camera photos, temperature measurements, and aluminum witness plates suggest that the boron was completely vaporized by the crush wave and that the boron vapor turbulently mixed with and burned in the surrounding air. In the case of PTFE powder, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy of residues recovered from fragments of a granite target slab suggest that heating was sufficient to dissociate the PTFE to carbon vapor and molecular fluorine which reacted with the quartz and aluminum silicates in the granite to form aluminum oxide and mineral fluoride compounds.
- Research Organization:
- Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE
- DOE Contract Number:
- W-7405-ENG-48
- Assignee:
- Lawrence Livermore National Security, LLC (Livermore, CA)
- Patent Number(s):
- 7,707,819
- Application Number:
- 10/947,815
- OSTI ID:
- 985231
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Preshot Report for Carbonara: Dynamics of a Boron Carbide Sandwich
Low-pressure overdriven experiments in PBX-9502