Isentropic compression of nitroplastized Estane to ≈ 35 KBAR on the Sandia Z-Machine

Nitroplasticized Estane (hereafter NP-Estane) is the plastic binder used to hold HMX grains together in the plastic bonded explosive PBX 9501. It is a mixture of 49 wt. % Estane®5703 (BF Goodrich), 49 wt. % Nitroplasticizer (a 50/50 eutectic mixture of bis(2,2-dinitropropyl)formal and bis(2,2 dinitropropyl)acetal), and 2 wt. % Irganox® 1010 stabilizer. NP-Estane samples 0.1 - 2 mm thick were prepared by compression molding at 110°C. Hydrostatic compression to 2 kbar was measured at 34, 43, and 53°C. C P was measured at ambient conditions. NP-Estane was also isentropically compressed to ≈ 35 kbar in experiment Z1251 on the Sandia Z-Machine. Profiles of ramp waves transmitted through NP-Estane were measured and compared with a free surface reference profile using Hayes's "Backward" analysis and repeated forward analysis with the CTH hydrocode. The following thermodynamic quantities have been obtained; volume coefficient of thermal expansion α = 7.2(10-4)/C, CP = 1.76 J/g C, CV = 1.41 J/g C, isentropic and isothermal bulk moduli, BS = 36.4 kbar, BT = 29.3 kbar, Grüneisen constant Γ = 1.45. The Z1251 experiment is well fit using a Mie-Grüneisen equation of state with the quadratic US - u P relation, US=1.69+2.7uP-(0.7/1.69)u P2km/s. © 2006 American Institute of Physics.