UNIQUE TECHNIQUE FOR REAL TIME CHARACTERIZATION OF RDX/HMX BASED COMPOSITES

NUMEROUS STUDIES CONDUCTED IN THE PAST HAVE CLEARLY ESTABLISHED THE STRONG CORRELATION BETWEEN THE MICROSTRUCTURE AND THE ENERGETIC PROPERTIES OF SOLID PROPELLANTS SUCH AS RDX,HMX, AL, NH(4)CL0(4), ETC. THE PRESENT STUDY WILL EXAMINE THE FEASIBILITY OF USING A NONCONTACT, NON-DESTRUCTIVE X-RAY TECHNIQUE DEVELOPED UNDER CURRENT ONR SPONSORSHIP FOR SUCCESSFULLY CHARACTERIZATING SOLID PROPELLANT COMPOSITES. THIS TECHNIQUE UTILIZIES A STATE-OF-THE-ART X-RAY DETECTOR SYSTEM FOR SIMULTANEOUSLY OBSERVING SEVERAL CONSTITUENT PHASES AND THEIR RELATIVE COMPOSITION IN COMPOSITE MIXTURES. X-RAY DIFFRACTOMETRY A WELL ESTABLISHED MICROSTRUCTURAL CHARACTERIZATION TOOL WILL BE THE FOCUS OF THIS STUDY. THE TECHNIQUE IN CONJUNCTION WITH THE POSITION SENSITIVE DETECTOR (PSD) SYSTEM AND POWERFUL COMPUTERS CAN BE VERY EFFECTIVELY USED TO CHARACTERIZE SOLID PROPELLANT COMPOSITES IN REAL TIME. PHASE II WILL FOCUS ON DESIGNING AND FABRICATING SUCH A SYSTEM FOR PRODUCTION LINE APPLICATION TO MONITOR MATERIAL MICROSTRUCTURE IN REAL TIME.