This paper presents a modeling approach for simulating the anisotropic thermal expansion of polycrystalline (1,3,5-triamino-2,4,6-trinitrobenzene) TATB-based explosives which utilizes microstructural information including the porosity, crystal aspect ratio and processing-induced texture. A self-consistent homogenization procedure is used to relate the macroscopic thermoelastic response to the constitutive behavior of single-crystal TATB. The model includes a representation of the grain aspect ratio, porosity and, crystallographic texture attributed to the consolidation process. A quantitative model is proposed for describing the evolution of the preferred orientation of basal planes in TATB during consolidation and an algorithm constructed for developing a discrete representation of the associated orientation distribution function. Analytical and numerical solutions using this model are shown to produce textures consistent with previous measurements and characterization for isostatically and uniaxially ‘die-pressed’ specimens. Predicted thermal strain versus temperature results for textured specimens are shown to be in agreement with corresponding experimental measurements. Results from these simulations are used to identify qualitative trends. Key conclusions from this work include the following. Both porosity and grain aspect ratio have an influence on the thermal expansion of polycrystal TATB, considering realistic material variability. The preferred orientation of the single-crystal TATB [0 0 1] poles within a polycrystal gives rise to pronounced anisotropy of the macroscopic thermal expansion. The extent of this preferred orientation depends on the magnitude of the deformation and, consequently, is expected to vary spatially throughout manufactured components much like the porosity. The modeling approach presented here has utility toward bringing spatially variable microstructural features into macroscale system engineering models.

No abstract

Ionomeric polymers are a promising class of intelligent material which exhibit electromechanical coupling similar to that of piezoelectric bimorphs. Ionomeric polymers are much more compliant than piezoelectric ceramics or polymers and have been shown to produce actuation strain on the order of 2% at operating voltages between 1V and 3V (Akle et al., 2004, Proceedings IMECE). Their high compliance is advantageous in low force sensing configurations because ionic polymers have a very little impact on the dynamics of the measured system. Here we present a variational approach to the dynamic modeling of structures which incorporate ionic polymer materials. To demonstrate the method a cantilever beam model is developed using this variational approach. The modeling approach requires a priori knowledge of three empirically determined material properties: elastic modulus, dielectric permittivity, and effective strain coefficient. Previous work by Newbury and Leo has demonstrated that these three parameters are strongly frequency dependent in the range between less than 1Hz to frequencies greater than 1kHz. Combining the frequency-dependent material parameters with the variational method produces a second-order matrix representation of the structure. The frequency dependence of the material parameters is incorporated using a complex-property approach similar to the techniques for modeling viscoelastic materials. A transducer is manufactured and the method of material characterization is applied to determine the mtaerial properties. Additional experiments are performed on this transducer and both the material and structural model are validated. Finally, the model is shown to predict sensing response very well in comparison to experimental results, which supports the use of an energy-based variational approach for modeling ionomeric polymer transducers.

No abstract