Titanium Particle Combustion

In order to increase the validity of numerical models of the detonation of heterogeneous titanium explosives, experimental results are needed. The combustion of titanium is studied using two experimental techniques. The first technique is the study of the burn time for a single particle over a wide range of initial diameters while altering the oxygen concentration. To accomplish this a new flat flame burner to study particle burn time has been designed. Luminous tracks caused by the light emitted by the combustion of the particles are analyzed and burn time is inferred. Burn time in air and in an oxygen enriched atmosphere were determined. A second experiment involves the study of large scale detonation of heterogeneous charges. The charges are filled with nitromethane and a packed bed of titanium particles. The titanium particles varied in morphology and particles size. A critical charge diameter for charge ignition (CDPI) was found for irregularly shaped particles but was not found for spherical particles.