Mechanochemical reactions and strengthening in epoxy-cast aluminum iron-oxide mixtures

Epoxy-cast Al+Fe2O3 thermite composites are an example of a structural energetic material that can simultaneously release chemical energy while providing structural strength. The structural/mechanical response and chemical reaction behavior are closely interlinked through characteristics of deformation and intermixing of reactants. In this work, the structural and energetic response of composites made from stoichiometric mixtures of nano- and micro-scale aluminum and hematite (Fe2O3) powders dispersed in 47 to 78 vol.% epoxy was investigated by characterizing the mechanical behavior under high-strain rate and shock loading conditions.; The main focus of the work was to understand the influence of microstructure on mechanical behavior in epoxy-cast Al+Fe2O3 materials when exposed to high stress, large strain, and high rate loading conditions. The material's Hugoniot at pressures up to approximately 20 GPa for an Al+Fe2O3+78 vol.% epoxy composite and up to approximately 8 GPa for Al+Fe2O3+60 vol.% epoxy composite has been determined. The results reveal an inert pressure-relative volume (P-V) and shock-particle velocity (US-UP) response in the range of the shock-conditions explored, with the Al+Fe2O3+60 vol.% epoxy composite showing a greater shock stiffness. The addition of solid particle inclusions alters the Hugoniot response as compared to pure epoxy behavior. This is attributed to possible induced bulk damage that changes the composite's response as impact stress increases. While the 78 vol.% epoxy composition shows a transition from "undamaged" to "damaged" behavior that approaches pure epoxy response, the 60 vol.% epoxy composition exhibits a gradual toughening behavior. Impact experiments have also been conducted for characterizing the high-strain rate deformation and fracture response obtained from instrumented reverse Taylor tests using high-speed camera and velocity interferometry.; The results show that these composite materials exhibit viscoelastic-viscoplastic deformation and brittle fracture behaviors. Significant elastic and plastic deformation during both loading and unloading stages is observed, with approximately 50% elastic recovery of total axial strain occurring rapidly (tens of microseconds) after impact. Coupling high-speed camera images and velocity interferometry measurements shows that the elastic recovery coincides with peak axial strain and the elastic and plastic wave interaction. The incorporation of nano-scale aluminum particles enhances the dynamic stress-strain response and significantly improves the composites' resilience to impact as compared to pure epoxy, and with the use of micron-scale aluminum particles.; Post-mortem analysis of recovered Taylor impacted specimens indicates evidence of early stages of strain-induced reactions occurring at select stress, strain, and strain rates. The observed reaction products correlate with results of thermal analysis, which include DTA and in situ high temperature x-ray diffraction (HTXRD).; Central to this study was the interaction of metal-oxide powder mixtures with the epoxy matrix and how their chemical and mechanical properties balance to form a structural energetic material system. The study focuses on describing the underlying principles governing the deformation and fracture behavior, processing characteristics of epoxy-cast Al+Fe2O3 powder mixtures, mechanochemical sensitivity, and reaction response. In order to accomplish this, the effects of size, morphology, and distribution of particles were evaluated based on mechanical and chemical response to high pressures and combined stress-strain states using time-resolved measurements.