Prof Kidane and Prof Sun investigate damage initiation and propagation in heterogeneous energetic materials via meso-scale modeling

Damage in energetic material (EM) microstructures can result in off-design performance or even failure of devices critical to national security and safety. For EM-based systems to maintain robust performance over a wide envelope of operational conditions, microstructural damage must be predicted and its effect on energetic material sensitivity must be mitigated. Prof Addis Kidane and Prof Waiching (Steve) Sun will combine careful experimentation and first-principles physics-based multi-scale modeling to establish load-structure-damage-performance (L-S-D-P) linkages for pressed and plastic-bonded energetic materials.

The project includes three specific objectives: i) predict modes and distribution of damage at the micro-scale in an EM (herein PBXs, with varying binder fractions) as a function of T/S cycles; ii) model and predict damage evolution in the EM microstructure (meso-scale) when subjected to impact loads; and iii) correlate damage at the micro-scale to macro-scale performance delivered by the EM. This project is funded by Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR) (Award amount: $750,000; Sept 2022 – Aug 2024).