Research Summaries

Back Advanced Energetics for Agent Defeat

Fiscal Year 2020
Division Graduate School of Engineering & Applied Science
Department Physics
Investigator(s) Hooper, Joseph P.
Sponsor Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DoD)
Summary Advanced explosive formulations, particularly those that augment energetic output with metal combustion, have been considered for many years as potential chem/bio defeat weapons. However, it has proven challenging to convincingly demonstrate their improved effectiveness, due to difficulty in thermal diagnostics, limitations in agent testing, poor understanding of the materials themselves, and other challenges. In this proposal NPS outlines continuing work for DTRA in the development, characterization, testing, and analytic modeling of advanced energetics and reactive materials (RMs) with the goals of improved understanding of these issues and transition to applied systems. Proposed work is broken down into four broad areas. First, NPS will fabricate metal and metal/polymer RMs via 3D printing as well as traditional methods. As needed by DTRA, NPS can also expand this work to develop new materials made either by powder metallurgy (such as hot isostatic pressing) or casting. Second, NPS will characterize the material and mechanical properties of these compounds, with a particular focus on dynamic loading and fragmentation. Third, NPS will conduct small-scale explosive and impact testing to examine energy release, temperature, and blast from scaled advanced energetic charges and cases. Finally, NPS will continue to develop analytic and engineering type models for the advanced energetics that provide a weaponeering-level analysis without the need for full hydrocode simulations
Keywords Explosives Reactive Materials
Publications Publications, theses (not shown) and data repositories will be added to the portal record when information is available in FAIRS and brought back to the portal
Data Publications, theses (not shown) and data repositories will be added to the portal record when information is available in FAIRS and brought back to the portal