Enhanced Non-linear Viscoelastic Properties of Polymer Bonded Explosives Based on Graphene and a Neutral Polymeric Bonding Agent

During their long-term storage and transport, polymer bonded explosives (PBXs) will be subjected to complex thermal physical environments with combined thermal and mechanical loads. The creep behaviour results in a change of physical and mechanical properties, which consequently influences the explosive performance. In this work, graphene and a neutral polymeric bonding agent (NPBA) were selected to improve the non-linear creep properties of 1,3,5-triamino-2,4,6-trinitrobenzene (TATB)-based PBXs. The results were compared with the creep response of the corresponding PBXs without additives and with graphene alone. It was observed that graphene and an NPBA exhibited a positive effect, improving the creep resistance of TATB-based PBXs. The compressive and tensile strength of 0.5 wt.% graphene-filled PBXs were improved by 5.1% and 29.2%, respectively, compared to raw TATB-based PBXs without additives. The performance of the PBXs was further enhanced by the addition of 0.1 wt.% NPBA. For a given stress and temperature, the TATB-based PBXs with graphene and NPBA deformed significantly less than the PBXs filled with graphene alone.