Response behavior of the PTFE/Al/W granular composite under different loadings

PTFE/Al/W granular composite is a kind of impact-initiated energetic material and may well enhance damage to the impacted targets. To gain insight into response behavior of PTFE/Al/W granular composite under different loadings, the combined approach of experiments and theoretical analyses is used in this paper. More specifically, the combinations of quasi-static compression, dynamic tests, and ballistic impact experiments are conducted. Cylindrical PTFE/Al/W granular composite specimens, with a density of 7.7 \(\hbox {g/cm}^{3}\) and a diameter of 10 mm, are fabricated by cold press molding, sintering, and cooling. Moreover, a high-speed imaging technique is used to record response process of the specimens in ballistic impact experiments. The experimental and analytical results show that the response behavior of PTFE/Al/W granular composite is significantly influenced by the loading strain rate. When the strain rate is less than \(3.6\times 10^{3}\,\hbox {s}^{-1}\), only mechanical response is observed in the quasi-static compression and dynamic tests. However, when the strain rate is higher than \(4\times 10^{4}\,\hbox {s}^{-1}\), the chemical reaction is found in the ballistic impact experiments. Furthermore, chemical response shows an enhanced trend with increasing of the loading strain rate.