Study of Ignition of High-Energy Materials with Boron and Aluminum and Titanium Diborides

Abstract

This paper describes the ignition of high-energy materials (HEMs) on the basis of ammonium perchlorate and ammonium nitrate and an energetic binder, containing the powders of Al (base composition), B, AlB₂, AlB₁₂, and TiB₂, upon initiation of the process by a CO2 laser in the heat flux density range of 90–200 W/cm². The ignition delay time and surface temperature of the reaction layer during the heating and ignition of HEMs in air are determined. It is obtained that the complete replacement of a micron-sized aluminum powder by amorphous boron in the composition of HEMs significantly reduces the ignition delay time of the sample (by 2.2–2.8 times) with the same heat flux density, and this occurs due to the high chemical activity of and difference between the mechanisms of oxidation of boron particles. The use of aluminum diboride in HEMs reduces the ignition delay time by 1.7–2.2 times in comparison with the base composition. The ignition delay time of the HEM sample with titanium diboride decreases slightly (by 10–25%) relative to the ignition delay time of the base composition.