Synthesis, Swelling and Mechanical Response of Selected Hydro- and Organogels for Energetic Material

Major Maxime Champagne, Canadian Army

We considered the swelling and mechanical behavior of selected hydro- and organogels with various solvents of relevance for energetic materials, including diesel fuel and nitromethane. As they absorb several times their mass in solvent while retaining some degree of structural rigidity, these gels could conceivably be used as possible matrices for liquid enhanced blast fuels. We studied the mechanical properties of two hydrogels under quasi-static and dynamic compression, as well as the effect of confinement in a highly porous aluminum foam matrix. For unconfined geometries, the strain to failure was similar for quasi-static and dynamic compression. The liquid mass loss for unconfined gels increased with impact velocity in a split Hopkinson bar and varied with the particular solvent used. The aluminum foam/gel composite demonstrated additional structural rigidity without radically altering the gel mechanical properties.