Method for preparation of fine TATB (2-5 μm) and its evaluation in plastic bonded explosive (PBX) formulations

There is a need of fine 1,3,5-triamino-2,4,6-trinitrobenzene (TATB) (2-5 μm) for various high explosive formulations to achieve desired mechanical strength, ease in processing and finally, provide better performance of end product. The reprecipitation method for TATB has been developed using concentrated sulfuric acid as a solvent. The reprecipitation parameters of TATB were optimized to achieve required fine TATB of particle size ∼2-5 μm. The characteristic properties of fine TATB thus obtained have been confirmed by FTIR, DSC and TG-FTIR. The spectroscopic and thermal data obtained for fine TATB were compared with standard coarse TATB and found chemically unchanged during particle size reduction. In the present study, the preparation of fine TATB was also attempted using ultrasonication method. The fine (2-5 μm) TATB has been introduced to study in the bimodal high explosive formulations. High explosive formulations based on coarse (55 μm) and fine TATB (∼2-5 μm) with 10% polyurethane were studied. It was observed that properties like bulk density (1.70 g/cm3), mechanical strength/compressed strength (115.9 mg/cm2), %elongation (6.36) were improved for fine TATB in comparison with coarse TATB (∼55 μm) alone in high explosive formulations.