Thermal decomposition and kinetics of plastic bonded explosives based on mixture of HMX and TATB with polymer matrices

This work describes thermal decomposition behaviour of plastic bonded explosives （PBXs） based on mixture of l,3,5,7-tetranitro- 1,3,5,7-tetrazocane （HMX） and 2,4,6- triamino-1,3,5-trinitrobenzene （TATB） with Viton A as polymer binder. Thermal decomposition of PBXs was undertaken by applying simultaneous thermal analysis （STA） and differential scanning calorimetry （DSC） to investigate influence of the HMX amount on thermal behavior and its kinetics. Thermogravimetric analysis （TGA） indicated that the thermal decomposition of PBXs based on mixture of HMX and TATB was occurred in a three-steps. The first step was mainly due to decomposition of HMX. The second step was ascribed due to decomposition of TATB, while the third step was occurred due to decomposition of the polymer matrices. The thermal decomposition % was increased with increasing HMX amount. The kinetics related to thermal decomposition were investigated under non-isothermal for a single heating rate measurement. The variation in the activation energ