Research on the fracture behavior of PBX under static tension

Abstract

The fracture behavior of polymer-bonded explosive (PBX) seriously affects the safety and reliability of weapon system. The effects of interface debonding and initial meso-damage on the fracture behavior of PBX under quasi-static tension are studied using numerical method. A two-dimensional representative volume element (RVE) is established based on Voronoi model in which the component contents could be regulated and the particles are randomly distributed. A nonlinear damage model of polymer matrix relative to matrix depth between particles is constructed. The results show that the simulated strain-stress relation is coincident with experiment data. It is found that interface debonding leads to the nucleation and propagation of meso-cracks, and a main crack approximately perpendicular to the loading direction is generated finally. The interface debonding tends to occur in the interface perpendicular to the loading direction. There seems to be a phenomenon that strain softening and hardening alternatively appear around peak stress of stress and strain curve. It is shown that the initial damages of intragranular and interfacial cracks both decrease the modulus and failure stress, and the main crack tends to propagate toward the initial meso-cracks.

Keywords

• Polymer bonded explosive
• Initial damage
• Fracture behavior
• Voronoi model
• Interface debonding