Effects of Aluminum Particle Size on the Detonation Pressure of TNT/Al

To better understand the influence of the aluminum particle size on the detonation pressure of TNT/Al, electrical conductivity experiment and detonation pressure experiment were performed in this study. Four types of TNT/Al were considered, in which the particle size of aluminum was 50 nm, 100 nm, 1.50 μm, and 9.79 μm, respectively. The combustion process of Al in TNT/Al was detected by electrical conductivity experiment, and the detonation pressures of TNT/Al were measured by using the manganin pressure sensors. According to the experimental results, the Chapman Jouguet (CJ) pressure of the explosive containing nano-sized aluminum is higher than the explosive containing micron-sized aluminum powder because of the combustion of nano-sized aluminum in the detonation reaction zone. In addition, a smaller aluminum particle size in TNT/Al is associated with a slower detonation pressure attenuation. This study gives a clearer picture of how aluminum particle size contributes to detonation pressure on timescales from 0 to 0.82 μs.