Effect of mechanical activation duration on combustion parameters of Al-Mg-based high-energy systems

Abstract

The paper studies dispersion, oxidation degree, burning rate and combustion heat in high-energy mixtures obtained from of Al-Mg powder materials depending on the duration of mechanical activation in a planetary mill. According to dispersion analysis by laser diffraction method, 3 h mechanical activation gives Al-Mg particles with average particle size of 30 μm compared to 180 μm particles obtained after 2 h activation. Thermogravimetric analysis (TG) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) were used to record TG/DSC curves and measure burning rate and combustion heat for synthesized powders in comparison with engineered Al-Mg powder PAM−4 (Novosverdlovsk Metallurgical Company, Yekaterinburg, Russia). It has been found that the injection of 6 h mechanically activated Al-Mg powder into high-energy compositions leads to 24 and 45% increase of burning rate and combustion heat compared to the compositions without additive.