Studies on Inert Surrogate for Pressable Plastic Bonded Explosives

Abstract. Considering processability, production infrastructure, capacities, and cost, the aim is to produce pressable surrogate explosives using Estane 5703 binder, thereby enhancing the representation of explosives during the pressing and turning steps. Within the scope of this research, pressable inert surrogate explosive was produced by using water-slurry method. After the production of inert explosive samples on a small scale, the coating quality and formulation are evaluated through particle size distribution, density, microscope imaging, and bulk density analysis. As the next step in this study, large-scale productions were carried out, followed by pressing and turning studies of the main charge. These test samples demonstrated that the desired pressing density obtaining high bulk density as a result of the particle size distribution was achieved by ensuring surface quality and homogeneity under high pressing pressures, with a formulation closer to the original explosive formulation with the coating of all solid particles.