Metal/fluoropolymer composites represent a new category of energetic structural materials that release energy through exothermic chemical reactions initiated under shock loading conditions. This paper describes an experiment designed to study the reaction characteristics of energetic materials with low porosity under explosive loading. Three PTFE (polytetrafluoroethylene)/Ti/W mixtures with different W contents are processed through pressing and sintering. An inert PTFE/W mixture without reactive Ti particles is also prepared to serve as a reference. Shock-induced chemical reactions are recorded by high-speed video through a narrow observation window. Related shock parameters are calculated based on experimental data, and differences in energy release are discussed. The results show that the reaction propagation of PTFE/Ti/W energetic materials with low porosity under explosive loading is not self-sustained. As propagation distance increases, the energy release gradually decreases. In addition, reaction failure distance in PTFE/Ti/W composites is inversely proportional to the W content. Porosity increased the failure distance due to higher shock temperature.
Keywords: energetic materials; explosive loading; reaction characteristics.