Aspects of the Tribology of the Plastic Bonded Explosive (PBX) 9404*

The coefficient of friction, {mu}, of the plastic bonded explosive (PBX) 9404 was measured on stainless steel, aluminum, Teflon and the explosive itself as a function of temperature between ambient and 135 C at a rotational speed of 0.0025 rad/sec{sup -1}. An optical profilometer was used to analyze the mean surface roughness, R{sub a}, of the various materials. PBX 9404 is a composite of the explosive 1,3,5,7-tetranitroazacyclooctane (HMX) chloroethyl phosphate (CEF) and nitrocellulose in an 96/3/3 weight ratio. The average roughness of the pressed explosive surface was R{sub a} = 1.37 {micro}m. The coefficient of friction for PBX 9404 on stainless steel of R{sub a} = 0.40 {micro}m increased from 0.22 at ambient to 0.34 at 95 C. Above this temperature {mu} decreased to about 0.23 at 125 C. Similar behavior was observed with aluminum with R{sub a} = 0.31 {micro}m. The coefficient of friction increased from about 0.08 at ambient to 0.48 at 115 C. Above this temperature, {mu} tended to decrease slightly. The coefficient of friction against Teflon of R{sub a} = 0.054 {micro}m was sigmoidal, increasing from about 0.3 at ambient to about at 0.49 {+-} 0.002 above 115 C. Against a PBX 9404 counter surface, the coefficient of friction averaged 0.54 over the entire test temperature range, but tended to increase during the measurement, probably due to adhesion of the nitrocellulose to itself.