Experimental investigation on impact ignition of Al/PTFE reactive materials

Reactive materials are a new class of energetic materials that extremely and efficiently release energy under the influence of high impact loading. An impact tester is used in the present study to explore the impact ignition characteristics of Al/PTFE reactive materials and the impact ignition pressure of Al/PTFE reaction materials under different conditions. The experimental result shows that the critical ignition pressure is approximately 1.44 GPa. Meanwhile, it also shows that the material compactness has a much less pronounced effect on the impact ignition pressure for this reactive material if the loading time scales are of the order of several milliseconds. Plastic work and viscous heat both play a significant role in impact ignition. Finally, it is shown that impact ignition ensures a higher energy release rate than surface ignition.