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A Thermal Study of a Simple Al−CuO Pyrotechnic Crackle Composition
Author(s) -
Harrison Richard
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
propellants, explosives, pyrotechnics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.56
H-Index - 65
eISSN - 1521-4087
pISSN - 0721-3115
DOI - 10.1002/prep.201800291
Subject(s) - pyrotechnics , exothermic reaction , explosive material , melting point , materials science , thermocouple , analytical chemistry (journal) , thermodynamics , chemistry , composite material , physics , organic chemistry
The reaction temperature in ignited samples of a novel, chemically simple pyrotechnic crackle composition was monitored at 1 ms intervals by means of a small embedded thermocouple. Analysis of the results reveals that an exothermic reaction is detectable at temperatures as low as 500 K. The reaction is found to progress in at least three – and probably four – steps that correlate well with similar findings from the study of nanocomposites of the same composition. The first two steps are shown to be associated with the crackle's delay phase. The transition to the explosive phase is shown to occur at a temperature significantly above the melting point of aluminum, being triggered at or beyond the temperature of operation of the third reaction step. The results provide a behavioral baseline for the future study of more complex crackle compositions.