SEVERAL INVESTIGATIONS HAVE BEEN CONDUCTED INTO THE EXISTANCE AND PHENOMENALOGICAL ORIGIN OF CAVITIES IN RDX.

SEVERAL INVESTIGATIONS HAVE BEEN CONDUCTED INTO THE EXISTANCE AND PHENOMENALOGICAL ORIGIN OF CAVITIES IN RDX. THESE STUDIES CLEARLY HIGHLIGHT THE RELEVANCE OF GROWTH VARIABLES/PARAMETERS IN THE ULTIMATE QUALITY OF RDX CRYSTALS. SOME OF THE MOST SIGNIFICANT FACTORS AFFECTING THE SIZE, DENSITY AND DISTRIBUTION OF CAVITIES OF RDX ARE: A. QUALITY OF STARTING/SEED CRYSTAL, B. COOLING RATE DURING CRYSTALLIZATION AND C. PHOTO SENSITIVITY OF RDX. ALL THREE OF THESE FACTORS HAVE BEEN DIRECTLY LINKED TO THE APPEARANCE OF GROWTH CAVITIES IN RDX. IN THE PROPOSED PHASE I PROGRAM A CONCERTED EFFORT WILL BE DIRECTED TOWARDS THE GROWTH OF CAVITY FREE RDX USING SOLUTION RECRYSTALLIZATION. THE THREE MAJOR GROWTH CRITERIA ENUMERATED EARLIER WILL BE THE FOCUS OF ATTENTION. THE STARTING SEED OF RDX WILL BE OBTAINED BY PURIFYING EXISTING RDX USING SOLUTION RECRYSTALLIZATION PROCESS. THESE SEEDS WILL THEN BE USED TO GROW LARGE, CAVITY FREE, SINGLE CRYSTALS OF RDX IN THE ABSENCE OF LIGHT USING EXTREMELY SLOW COOLING RATES. THE CONTROLLED COOLING REQUIRED WILL BE ACHIEVED USING AUTOMATED PROGRAMMABLE THERMAL SYSTEMS. THESE HIGH QUALITY RDX CRYSTALS WILL THEN BE FRAGMENTED TO THE APPROPRIATE GRAIN SIZE AND DISTRIBUTION BY THERMAL SHOCKING TECHNIQUES. PHASE II WILL EXAMINE THE FEASIBILITY OF UTILIZING THESE TECHNIQUES IN PRODUCTION ORIENTED ENVIRONMENTS. THE CONTROLLED INTRODUCTION OF CAVITIES IN RDX BY ULTRASONIC, UV, PHOTOLYSIS TECHNIQUES WILL ALSO BE EXPLORED IN GREATER DETAIL. IT WILL THUS BE FEASIBILE TO CONTROL THE SENSITIVITY/ENERGETICS OF THE END PRODUCT BY MAINTAINING STRICK CONTROL OVER THE GROWTH PARAMETERS AND CONDITIONS. THE CAVITIES WILL BE CHARACTERIZED USING SMALL ANGLE X-RAY SCATTERING AND SEM TECHNIQUES.