Effect of Aging on the Performances of TNT Based Melt-cast Explosives

Abstract

To research the effect of aging on the explosive performances,the accelerated aging test of three kinds of melt-cast explosives TNT/RDX,TNT/RDX/Al and TNT/HMX/Al stockpiled for a period of time were carried out.The micro morphology and safety properties of these explosives before and after aging were studied by scanning electron microscopy and vacuum stability test(VST).The mechanical sensitivities and detonation velocities of these explosives before and after aging were tested.The results show that after aging,the color of explosives becomes dark,the volume is expanded,and the mass is decreased.The amount of evolved gas of samples is less than 2mL/g.The thermal sensitivity of samples also has smaller change.The change in mechanical sensitivity is related to the components and aging mode of explosive.For the TNT/RDX,the detonation velocity gradually decreases with increasing the storage time,which is consistent with that of overall accelerated aging.The change trend of heat of detonation with increasing the storage time for the TNT/RDX/Al and TNT/HMX/Al is opposite,revealing that the aging mechanism may be different.