Explosive Compaction of Metal Powders

transmit a shock pulse into the powder so as to effect its compaction. The controlling parameter of the process is assumed to be the ratio of the powder mass to the explosive mass, Mp/ME, and values of this ratio necessary to fully compact various powders have been quoted· for specified explosives. Apart from an attempt by Leonard4 to relate the Mp/ME ratio for full compaction to the compressive yield strength of five powder materials, no definite relationship has been established between this ratio and any measurable. property of a metal powder. Although details of the powder container are not normally included in the literature, initial work by Ludlow,S subsequently verified by Bhalla,6 showed that compacted density was dependent on the container tube wall thickness and material, even when Mp/ME was maintained constant. Bhalla subsequently found that a rel(~tionship existed between the compacted density Dc and the kinetic energy per unit area of the tube E immediately after detonation of the explosive charge. This relationship took the form: