| Abstract | Structural reactive material (SRM) is consolidated from a fine granular mixture of reactive materials towards the mixture theoretical maximum density with little porosity, thus bearing both high energy density and mechanical strength. A reactive hot spot concept was investigated for fine fragmentation of a SRM solid under explosive loading to augment air blast through rapid reaction of fine SRM fragments. In this concept, micro‐sized reactive materials were distributed in a fuel‐rich SRM solid, such as MoO3 particles consolidated in a particulate aluminum base in 10Al+MoO3. Intermetallic reactions of micro‐sized MoO3 and nearby Al under explosive loading created heat and gas products to form microscale hot spots that initiated local fractures leading to fine fragments of the rest of Al. The SRM solid was made of a thick‐walled cylindrical casing, containing a high explosive in a detonation pressure range of 25–34 GPa with a casing‐to‐explosive mass ratio of 1.78. Experiments in a cylindrical chamber demonstrated the presence of a large amount of fine SRM fragments, whose reaction promptly after detonation significantly enhanced the primary and near field blast wave, as compared to the results from a baseline pure Al‐cased charge, thus indicating the feasibility of the concept. |
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