Experimental Study of the Impact Damage of Composition B and Plastic Bonded Explosive

A long pulse low velocity gas gun with a gas buffer is used to induce impact damage in cast Composition B and hot pressed PBXN 5. To obtain different damage states, a range of projectile velocities are used by controlling the launching pressure of gas gun. The stress history during impact loading is recorded. Various methods are used to characterize the damage state of impacted explosive samples. The microstructure is examined by use of scanning electronic microscopy (SEM) and polarized light microscopy (PLM). The densities and ultrasonic attenuation are also measured. The results show that both Composition B and PBXN 5 exhibit some damage characteristics of brittle materials. However, due to the difference in compositions, PBXN 5 exhibits better resistance to impact loading than Composition B.