ADDITIVELY MANUFACTURED THERMITE-BASED ENERGETICS: CHARACTERIZATION AND APPLICATIONS

Abstract

A main way to control the reaction characteristics of an energetic material is through changes in chemical composition. However, with the advancements of additive manufacturing technology, reaction characteristics can now be controlled through the creation of structures called reactive material architectures (RMA’s). This work characterizes baseline reaction properties of multiple thermite-based energetic pastes, their printing properties, and their applications in the realm of exothermic brazing. The energetic pastes were found to have architecture-specific reaction phenomenon and reaction speeds ranging from approximately 3 mm/s to 160 mm/s. Multiple printing methodologies were explored with respect to these energetic formulations and greatly expand potential architectures. These unique architectures were used in exothermic soldering and brazing applications. Overall, the thermite-based energetics discussed in this work show great potential for exothermic joining techniques and other high-heat applications.