Mechanical and Impact Reaction Characteristics of Polytetrafluoroethylene/Aluminium/Zirconium Hydride Reactive Material

To investigate the energy release behaviour of reactive materials incorporating zirconium hydride (ZrH₂), a comparative analysis was conducted on the energy release characteristics of polytetrafluoroethylene/aluminium (PTFE/Al), PTFE/ZrH₂, and PTFE/Al/ZrH₂ reactive fragments with varying ZrH₂ contents. Compression Experiments were employed to obtain compressive Young's modulus and compressive strength of PTFE/Al/ZrH₂ reactive material. A simultaneous thermal analyser was employed to obtain the thermogravimetry/differential scanning calorimetry curves of reactive materials. An experimental study was conducted within a sealed container to examine the energy release behaviour of reactive fragments containing ZrH₂. The impact velocity and composition were varied to ascertain their influence on the energy release characteristics. The findings reveal that the energy release of PTFE/ZrH₂ is approximately 1.5 times that of PTFE/Al at the same impact velocities. Furthermore, the energy release of the PTFE/Al/ZrH₂ composite surpasses that of the PTFE/Al counterpart, with a maximum value that is 1.7 times greater when considering equal volumes. Moreover, it was observed that the energy released upon impact generally increases with escalating impact velocities.