Dynamic mechanical properties and constitutive relation of an aluminized polymer bonded explosive at low temperatures

Abstract

Polymer bonded explosives (PBXs) are widely used as energetic fillings in various warheads, which maybe are utilized under extreme environments, such as low or high temperatures. In this paper, the dynamic response of an aluminized polymer bonded explosive was tested at a range of temperatures from -55°C to -2°C and a fixed loading strain rate (700 s-1) with the split Hopkinson pressure bar (SHPB). The PBX tested is aluminized, which contains 76 wt% RDX, 20 wt% aluminum powder, and 4 wt% polymer binder, respectively. The results show that the effect of temperature on the strength of the PBX is obvious at the tested strain rates. Based on the experimental results and prophase studies, a constitutive model was obtained, in which the effect of temperature and strain rate were considered. The modeling curves fit well with the experimental results, not only at low temperature under 0°C, but also at room temperature (20°C). The model may be used to predict the dynamic performances of the PBXs in various environments. © 2014 Yuliang Lin et al.