{"id":{"repo_id":"uiuc","oai_identifier":"oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/101353"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/uiuc/oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/101353","repository":{"repo_id":"uiuc","name":"University of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign","base_url":"https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/oai-pmh"},"display":{"title":"Optimization of enhancements to aluminum-based structural energetic materials","abstract":"Warhead casings are most often made of steel due to its low cost, high strength, good manufacturability, and ability to produce dense high-speed fragments. However, inert steel does not improve blast wave characteristics. In fact, it significantly reduces peak blast pressure and impulse as energy is expended in fracturing the case and accelerating the fragments. In applications where fragmentation is unnecessary or unwanted, warhead energy output can be improved by choosing a case material that reacts in the detonation environment. Aluminum is a good candidate for this application due to its low cost, widespread availability, good manufacturability, and high enthalpy of combustion. Difficulty arises in the timely ignition of the aluminum. A plain aluminum case produces mostly large fragments which do not burn on the timescale necessary for primary blast enhancement. Alloying other elements as well as incorporating changes to case geometry can enhance breakup to improve early time ignition. This research aims to optimize several parameters to maximize aluminum casing performance. Primary diagnostics consist of dynamic pressure measurements, quasi-static pressure measurements, and high speed imaging. Effect of wall material on fragment reaction is also investigated. Additionally, tensile test specimens are fabricated and tested to verify that structural properties of the aluminum are not compromised by the optimizations. Electron microscopy is used to examine case structure after the manufacturing, which was done here at the UIUC.","abstract_html":"Warhead casings are most often made of steel due to its low cost, high strength, good manufacturability, and ability to produce dense high-speed fragments. However, inert steel does not improve blast wave characteristics. In fact, it significantly reduces peak blast pressure and impulse as energy is expended in fracturing the case and accelerating the fragments. In applications where fragmentation is unnecessary or unwanted, warhead energy output can be improved by choosing a case material that reacts in the detonation environment. Aluminum is a good candidate for this application due to its low cost, widespread availability, good manufacturability, and high enthalpy of combustion. Difficulty arises in the timely ignition of the aluminum. A plain aluminum case produces mostly large fragments which do not burn on the timescale necessary for primary blast enhancement. Alloying other elements as well as incorporating changes to case geometry can enhance breakup to improve early time ignition. This research aims to optimize several parameters to maximize aluminum casing performance. Primary diagnostics consist of dynamic pressure measurements, quasi-static pressure measurements, and high speed imaging. Effect of wall material on fragment reaction is also investigated. Additionally, tensile test specimens are fabricated and tested to verify that structural properties of the aluminum are not compromised by the optimizations. Electron microscopy is used to examine case structure after the manufacturing, which was done here at the UIUC.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Poirier, Nicholas"],"institution":"University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign","degree_name":"M.S.","degree_level":"Thesis","degree_discipline":"Mechanical Engineering","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Glumac, Nick"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2018,"date_issued":"2018-09-04T20:47:24Z","date_published":"2018-09-04T20:47:24Z","updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:24:38Z","subjects":["Aluminum","Combustion","Structural Energetic Material, Magnesium, Tungsten, Detonation, Case, Casing, Fragmentation"],"languages":["en"],"rights":["Copyright 2018 Nicholas Poirier"],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"http://hdl.handle.net/2142/101353","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Glumac, Nick"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Poirier, Nicholas"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date","label":"Dc Date","values":["2018-09-04T20:47:24Z","2020-09-05T09:15:32Z","2018-04-26","2018-05"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["text"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Mechanical Engineering"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["M.S."]},{"key":"thesis:institution_name","label":"Thesis Institution Name","values":["University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Aluminum","Combustion","Structural Energetic Material, Magnesium, Tungsten, Detonation, Case, Casing, Fragmentation"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language","label":"Dc Language","values":["en"]},{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["Copyright 2018 Nicholas Poirier"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["http://hdl.handle.net/2142/101353"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description","label":"Description","values":["Warhead casings are most often made of steel due to its low cost, high strength, good manufacturability, and ability to produce dense high-speed fragments. However, inert steel does not improve blast wave characteristics. In fact, it significantly reduces peak blast pressure and impulse as energy is expended in fracturing the case and accelerating the fragments. In applications where fragmentation is unnecessary or unwanted, warhead energy output can be improved by choosing a case material that reacts in the detonation environment. Aluminum is a good candidate for this application due to its low cost, widespread availability, good manufacturability, and high enthalpy of combustion. Difficulty arises in the timely ignition of the aluminum. A plain aluminum case produces mostly large fragments which do not burn on the timescale necessary for primary blast enhancement. Alloying other elements as well as incorporating changes to case geometry can enhance breakup to improve early time ignition. This research aims to optimize several parameters to maximize aluminum casing performance. Primary diagnostics consist of dynamic pressure measurements, quasi-static pressure measurements, and high speed imaging. Effect of wall material on fragment reaction is also investigated. Additionally, tensile test specimens are fabricated and tested to verify that structural properties of the aluminum are not compromised by the optimizations. Electron microscopy is used to examine case structure after the manufacturing, which was done here at the UIUC.","Submission published under a 24 month embargo labeled 'Closed Access', the embargo will last until 2020-05-01","The student, Nicholas Poirier, accepted the attached license on 2018-04-25 at 15:07.","The student, Nicholas Poirier, submitted this Thesis for approval on 2018-04-25 at 15:15.","This Thesis was approved for publication on 2018-04-26 at 13:43.","DSpace SAF Submission Ingestion Package generated from Vireo submission #12365 on 2018-08-31 at 17:30:01","Made available in DSpace on 2018-09-04T20:47:24Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 POIRIER-THESIS-2018.pdf: 2460082 bytes, checksum: 2fa05d6c9f831c1dcda2a5741f0a4993 (MD5) LICENSE.txt: 4213 bytes, checksum: 8a47158e5ba0d903c554e40f753b8a6a (MD5) Previous issue date: 2018-04-26","Embargo set by: Seth Robbins for item 107438 Lift date: 2020-09-04T20:47:38Z Reason: Author requested closed access (OA after 2yrs) in Vireo ETD system","Embargo set by: Seth Robbins for item 107438 Lift date: 2020-09-04T20:50:11Z Reason: Author requested closed access (OA after 2yrs) in Vireo ETD system","Limited Restriction Lifted for Item 107438 on 2020-09-05T09:15:32Z."]},{"key":"dc:format","label":"Dc Format","values":["application/pdf"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Optimization of enhancements to aluminum-based structural energetic materials"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Glumac, Nick"],"dc:creator":["Poirier, Nicholas"],"dc:date":["2018-09-04T20:47:24Z","2020-09-05T09:15:32Z","2018-04-26","2018-05"],"dc:description":["Warhead casings are most often made of steel due to its low cost, high strength, good manufacturability, and ability to produce dense high-speed fragments. However, inert steel does not improve blast wave characteristics. In fact, it significantly reduces peak blast pressure and impulse as energy is expended in fracturing the case and accelerating the fragments. In applications where fragmentation is unnecessary or unwanted, warhead energy output can be improved by choosing a case material that reacts in the detonation environment. Aluminum is a good candidate for this application due to its low cost, widespread availability, good manufacturability, and high enthalpy of combustion. Difficulty arises in the timely ignition of the aluminum. A plain aluminum case produces mostly large fragments which do not burn on the timescale necessary for primary blast enhancement. Alloying other elements as well as incorporating changes to case geometry can enhance breakup to improve early time ignition. This research aims to optimize several parameters to maximize aluminum casing performance. Primary diagnostics consist of dynamic pressure measurements, quasi-static pressure measurements, and high speed imaging. Effect of wall material on fragment reaction is also investigated. Additionally, tensile test specimens are fabricated and tested to verify that structural properties of the aluminum are not compromised by the optimizations. Electron microscopy is used to examine case structure after the manufacturing, which was done here at the UIUC.","Submission published under a 24 month embargo labeled 'Closed Access', the embargo will last until 2020-05-01","The student, Nicholas Poirier, accepted the attached license on 2018-04-25 at 15:07.","The student, Nicholas Poirier, submitted this Thesis for approval on 2018-04-25 at 15:15.","This Thesis was approved for publication on 2018-04-26 at 13:43.","DSpace SAF Submission Ingestion Package generated from Vireo submission #12365 on 2018-08-31 at 17:30:01","Made available in DSpace on 2018-09-04T20:47:24Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 POIRIER-THESIS-2018.pdf: 2460082 bytes, checksum: 2fa05d6c9f831c1dcda2a5741f0a4993 (MD5) LICENSE.txt: 4213 bytes, checksum: 8a47158e5ba0d903c554e40f753b8a6a (MD5) Previous issue date: 2018-04-26","Embargo set by: Seth Robbins for item 107438 Lift date: 2020-09-04T20:47:38Z Reason: Author requested closed access (OA after 2yrs) in Vireo ETD system","Embargo set by: Seth Robbins for item 107438 Lift date: 2020-09-04T20:50:11Z Reason: Author requested closed access (OA after 2yrs) in Vireo ETD system","Limited Restriction Lifted for Item 107438 on 2020-09-05T09:15:32Z."],"dc:format":["application/pdf"],"dc:identifier":["http://hdl.handle.net/2142/101353"],"dc:language":["en"],"dc:rights":["Copyright 2018 Nicholas Poirier"],"dc:subject":["Aluminum","Combustion","Structural Energetic Material, Magnesium, Tungsten, Detonation, Case, Casing, Fragmentation"],"dc:title":["Optimization of enhancements to aluminum-based structural energetic materials"],"dc:type":["text"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Mechanical Engineering"],"thesis:degree_level":["Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["M.S."],"thesis:institution_name":["University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:24:38Z"}