Metal/polymer reactive materials have been studied and applied in a wide range of ways in recent years. This type of material is insensitive under normal conditions but reacts violently and releases a large amount of chemical energy under high-speed impact or high strain rate loading conditions. Compared with conventional explosives, it has better mechanical properties, and its unit mass energy is several times that of TNT. In this paper, PTFE/Al/CuO reactive materials are the main research objects, and we assess the impact energy release abilities of this type of reactive material through experimental research. To this end, eight sets of material formulations are designed, and the effects of particle size, the ratio of PTFE/Al and Al/CuO materials, and sintering on the energy release ability of the reactive materials are investigated. All experiments are carried out based on a self-designed new energy release testing device. The experimental device can measure the pressure time history curve generated by the reactive materials, and the rationality of the pressure time history curve can also be verified by the displacement time curve of the piston. The results show that with an increase in the Al/CuO thermite content, the energy release rate of the reactive material clearly increases, which is attributed to the reaction threshold of Al/CuO being low and because the heat generated can promote the reaction of PTFE/Al. The energy release rate of the nano-scale reactive materials is higher than that of the micron-scale reactive materials because the reduction in particle size results in a larger specific surface area. Thus, the energy required for ignition is lower. The energy release rate of sintered reactive materials is higher than that of unsintered reactive materials, which can be explained by the interfacial area between Al particles and PTFE particles in sintered reactive materials being larger, which makes the reaction more sufficient. The self-designed energy release testing device for the reactive materials and the conclusions obtained in this paper have clear significance for guiding engineering applications.
Keywords: PTFE/Al/CuO; drop hammer; energy release test; impact-initiated energetic materials; reactive materials; sintering process.