Effects of crystal quality and preferred orientation on the irreversible growth of compact TATB cylindrical explosives

Three kinds of 1,3,5-triamino-2,4,6-trinitrobenzene (TATB) cylinders compacted with TATB raw materials, recrystallized near-spherical and platy TATB crystals are compared to investigate the effects of crystal quality and preferred orientation on their irreversible growth. The results show that the higher the crystal quality, the lower the irreversible volume growth. The compacted cylinders of raw material TATB, with the poorest crystal quality, possess more irreversible growth than those with recrystallized high quality TATB crystals. Irreversible growth of TATB cylinders are also affected by crystal preferred orientation. With the same crystal quality, crystal preferred orientation leads to anisotropic irreversible dimension growth, but has no effect on the volume expansion of TATB cylinders. By changing the crystal quality and preferred orientation, the deformation problem of TATB-based PBX explosives may be restricted.