Characterization of thermally-damaged LX-17

Thermal damage was applied to LX-17 at 190C for several hours. The damaged LX-17 samples, after cooled down to room temperature, were characterized for their material properties, safety and performance. Mass losses upon thermal exposure were insignificant (< 0.1 mass%). The damaged LX-17 samples expanded, resulting in a bulk density reduction of 4.3%. Subsequent detonation measurements (cylinder tests) were conducted on the thermally-damaged LX-17 samples. The results showed that the fractions of damaged LX-17 reacted were slightly lower than those of pristine LX-17. The thermally damaged LX-17 samples had average detonation velocity of 7.341 mm mu s(-1), lower than that (7.638 mm mu s(-1)) of pristine LX-17. The average detonation energy density for the damaged LX-17 was 5.18 kJ cm(-3), about 6.0% lower than the detonation energy density of 5.51 kJ cm(-3) for the pristine LX-17. The break-out curves showed reaction zone lengths for pristine LX-17 and damaged LX-17 were similar but the damaged samples had ragged detonation fronts. DSC curves showed no significant difference between pristine LX-17 and damaged LX-17 with a peak temperature of 381C observed.