Parameterization of structures in HE composites using surrogate materials: A small angle neutron scattering investigation

High explosive materials used in the nuclear stockpile are composites of crystalline high explosives (HE) with binder materials, such as Estane. In such materials, there are naturally occurring density fluctuations (defects) due to cracks, internal (in the HE) and external (in the binder) voids and other artifacts of preparation. Changes in such defects due to material aging can affect the response of explosives due to shock, impact and thermal loading. Modeling efforts are attempting to provide quantitative descriptions of explosive response from the lowest ignition thresholds to the development of full blown detonations and explosions, however, adequate descriptions of these processes require accurate measurements of a number of structural parameters of the HE composite. Since different defects are believed to affect explosive sensitivity in different ways it is necessary to quantitatively differentiate between defect types. The authors report here preliminary results of SANS measurements on surrogates for HE materials. The objective of these measurements was to develop methodologies using SANS techniques to parameterize internal void size distributions in a surrogate material, sugar, to simulate an HE used in the stockpile, HMX. Sugar is a natural choice as a surrogate material, as it has the same crystal structure, has similar intragranular voids and has similar mechanical properties as HMX. It is used extensively as a mock material for explosives. Samples were used with two void size distributions: one with a sufficiently small mean particle size that only small occluded voids are present in significant concentrations, and one where the void sizes could be larger. By using methods in small-angle neutron scattering, they were able to isolate the scattering arising from particle-liquid interfaces and internal voids