Micromechanical modeling of high energy composites

High-energy polymer-binded explosives (PBXs) are composed of high-energy crystaline particles and a rubbery binder. The volume fraction of particles is approximately 92 percent. The high-energy particles have a Young's modulus that is three orders of magnitude higher than that of the binder. Efforts are currently underway to model these materials based on material property inputs from molecular dynamics simulations Micromechanical studies using the generalized method of cells (GMC) show that the position and size of the particles have a significant effect on the homogenized mechanical properties of the composite. Stress bridging is also shown to affect the mechanical properties significantly. Micromechanical modeling is validated using experimental data for PBX-9501.