Effect of RDX powders on detonation characteristics of emulsion explosives

To obtain an explosive suitable for the explosive welding of foils and produce a new way to reuse demilitarized explosives, RDX powders and high amounts of hollow glass microballoons (GMs) were introduced into an emulsion matrix to reduce detonation velocity and critical thickness. The effect of different percentages of RDX on the detonation performance of the mixtures was systematically investigated. The results showed that the critical thickness decreased significantly with increasing RDX contents, and the detonation velocity at the critical thickness was almost unchanged for the different RDX contents. Thus, the as-created mixtures were suitable for the explosive welding of foils due to their low detonation velocities and low critical thicknesses. The brisance test results indicated that the brisance of the composite explosives increased with increasing RDX contents, and this trend was more remarkable at low RDX contents. All the energy output parameters of the underwater explosions also increased with increasing RDX contents.