Exploratory Study to Determine the Ignition Properties and Combustion Chemistry of Explosives Using Shock Tube Methods
Abstract:
We investigated the potential of a new experimental method for combustion studies of solid nano-particle energetic materials. This new method is based on the recent development in our laboratory of an aerosol shock tube and its combined use with laser extinction for characterization of particle size and loading and absorption diagnostics for characterization of vapor species. We accomplished three main objectives in this study 1 we demonstrated the ability to load significant amounts of solid materials into our aerosol carrier and deliver this aerosol into our shock tube 2 we demonstrated laser-based diagnostic measurements of several key aspects of the ignition process of solidliquid fuel systems and 3 we characterized the effect of the addition of aluminum nano-particles on n-dodecane ignition under conditions previously not studied.