CHARACTERISTICS OF A NEW GENERATION OF THERMOBARIC EXPLOSIVES BASED ON SILICON BINDERS

This article presents the results of a study on the influence of binder content on the compressive strength and thermal decomposition of a new generation of thermobaric explosives (TBX) based on silicon binders. The results indicate that the compressive strength of TBX achieved a satisfactory level when the silicone binder content exceeded 12% (e.g., reaching 219 kgf/cm² at 13% binder content). Furthermore, the thermal decomposition process occurs in two stages, with corresponding activation energies of 148 kJ/mol and 234 kJ/mol. In addition, the curing mechanism of TBX samples was investigated using FT-IR spectroscopy, providing further insight into the cross-linking process of the silicon-based binder matrix, and some thermobaric energy characteristics of the TBX samples were also determined and discussed.