Development and Testing of Advanced Hybrid Energetic Material Systems

The overall objective of the proposed effort is to advance and test novel design ideas of hybrid explosives and accurately assess their effectiveness in delivering game changing effects. A three-pronged computational approach is proposed that consists of a microscale and a mesoscale formulation, with a tight coupling between the two. The work will have the following major components: (a) Conduct microscale simulations of particle combustion incorporating all relevant physics, including ambient shock/detonation wave, ambient turbulence, multi-component heat and mass transfer, detailed chemistry, oxide condensation, radiation, internal circulation of droplet and the oxide cap. (b) Develop accurate models of metal combustion for use in mesoscale simulations by employing the power of high performance computing to carry out a large set of well-organized microscale simulations that span the relevant parametric space. (c) Develop a computational framework to examine at the mesoscale unique hybrid explosive designs that have the potential to increase the initial blast pressure by factor two or more than what can be currently achieved.