Technical Approach

A potential Comp B replacement has to have many facets: it has to perform similarly, be environmentally benign, be melt-castable, and work in the desired application. The approach of this project is to address the melt-castable aspect initially, choose the constituents from material already known to be environmentally sensible, and investigate the material properties to find useful formulations. The crystalline portion of the formulation will be DAAF in every instance. The low melting point explosive will be chosen from the following:

• AN/U, a eutectic of ammonium nitrate and urea: As both are fertilizers, this is already developed and environmentally benign. Performance will be the challenge with this avenue.
• TNAZ: The researchers feel this material holds promise as a high-energy component in melt-castable systems owing to its high performance, reasonable safety characteristics, and low toxicity. The researchers intend to focus on vapor pressure reduction through formulation.
• DNMT: A molecule with excellent safety and performance values already developed by and available from the Armament Research, Development, and Engineering Center (ARDEC).
• BNFF and DNTF: These molecules possess calculated performance values that surpass HMX. Measured sensitivity data show a correlation between reduced sensitivity and improved purity. Synthesis work will focus on purity, environmental considerations, and scale.
• N-trinitromethyltriazoles (NTMTs): Recently Russian scientists have been reporting NTMTs compounds which are both over-oxidized and low-melting. DAAF has a negative oxygen balance, and the researchers feel an advantageous pairing is with an over oxidized low-melt partner. The challenge with these materials is their newness, limited scale, and limited data.