Mining Engineering Commons^™

Detonation Synthesis Of Nanoscale Silicon Carbide From Elemental Silicon, Martin J. Langenderfer, Yue Zhou, Jeremy Lee Watts, William Fahrenholtz, Catherine E. Johnson

Materials Science and Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Direct reaction of precursors with the products of detonation remains an underexplored area in the ever-growing body of detonation synthesis literature. This study demonstrated the synthesis of silicon carbide during detonation by reaction of elemental silicon with carbon products formed from detonation of RDX/TNT mixtures. Continuum scale simulation of the detonation showed that energy transfer by the detonation wave was completed within 2–9 μs depending on location of measurement within the detonating explosive charge. The simulated environment in the detonation product flow beyond the Chapman-Jouguet condition where pressure approaches 27 GPa and temperatures reach 3300 K was thermodynamically suitable for …