Effect of the fractal characteristics of the RDX particles on the rheology of the RDX-based casting aluminized explosives

ABSTRACT

To study the correlation between the fractal theory and the particle size gradation of the main explosive, the distribution characteristics of the RDX-based casting aluminized (GHL) explosives with different particle sizes and gradations were analyzed using fractal theory, and the thixotropic loop method was used to explore the effect of the gradation on the slurry. The experimental results showed that by fitting the lnYv(r)-lnr curve, the fractal characteristics between particles were found, and the fractal dimension (D) expanded from less than 1.6 to more than 2, which proved that the D of GHL explosive can be improved by particle size gradation. The thixotropic loop area of the slurry can be reduced by increasing the temperature and particle size distribution, which can effectively reduce the thixotropy property of the slurry. The smaller the area of the thixotropic loop was, the larger the D was. With the increase of shear rate, the apparent viscosity of slurry decreased, which was pseudoplastic fluid. The larger the non-Newtonian index, the larger the D of slurry. The particle size gradation can reduce the modulus of the slurry at the high angular frequency and the complex viscosity at the low angular frequency.

KEYWORDS:

• Fractal theory
• particle size gradation
• thixotropic-loop test
• RDX-based casting aluminized explosives
• rheological properties

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).