Dynamic Behaviour and Damage Mechanisms of a Novel Polymer‐Bonded Explosive Under Compressive Loading: Experiment and Numerical Investigation

ABSTRACT Accidental detonation under mechanical loading highlights the importance of understanding the dynamic damage behaviour of polymer‐bonded explosives (PBXs). For aluminium‐containing PBXs, systematic characterization of strain‐rate‐dependent and time‐dependent responses remains limited. In this study, the compressive behaviour of an aluminium‐containing PBX‐9001 is investigated over a wide range of strain rates using split Hopkinson pressure bar tests, complemented by high‐speed imaging and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Stress relaxation behaviour is analysed using time–temperature superposition and Prony series modelling, establishing links between viscoelastic response, high strain‐rate response and post‐failure microstructural features. The results reveal a transition in dominant damage evolution characteristics: interfacial debonding at low strain rates to transgranular fracture and particle fragmentation at high strain rates, providing insight into strain‐rate‐dependent failure evolution. A viscoelastic damage model is employed for interpretation and validation, with parameters derived from stress relaxation tests at multiple temperatures, using the time–temperature superposition principle and the Williams‐Landel‐Ferry (WLF) equation. Overall, the integrated experimental‐model approach enables a consistent interpretation of the observed behaviour and supports both safety assessment and engineering applications of aluminium‐containing PBXs.