On the Question of the Energetic Performance of TKX‐50

• Published in: Propellants, explosives, pyrotechnics Vol. 46; no. 10; pp. 1504 - 1508
• Main Authors: Sinditskii, Valery P., Serushkin, Valery V., Kolesov, Vasiliy I.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Weinheim Wiley Subscription Services, Inc 01.10.2021
• Subjects: Composite propellants; Density; Detonation; detonation velocity; dihydroxylammonium 5,5′-bistetrazole-1,1′-diolate (TKX-50); energetic performance; Enthalpy; enthalpy of formation; HMX; Mathematical analysis; Specific impulse; Velocity
• ISSN: 0721-3115; 1521-4087
• DOI: 10.1002/prep.202100173

An analysis of the experimental data available to date shows that the explosive TKX‐50 has really high explosive performance characteristics, although not as outstanding as claimed previously, due to the overestimation of the enthalpy of formation. The obtained experimental data on the dependence of the detonation velocity on the density of TKX‐50 samples agree with the results of calculations, in which the experimentally determined enthalpy of formation 194.1 kJ mol−1 is used. The energetic performance of TKX‐50 surpasses the parameters of nitramines RDX, HMX, and even CL‐20, determined at the same densities. However, the calculated detonation velocity of TKX‐50 at theoretical maximum density is 9287 m s−1, which is slightly lower than the detonation velocity of CL‐20 at maximum density. It is worth noting that the detonation velocity of the TKX‐50 at the experimentally attainable density (1.8 g cm−3) is 9037 m s−1. Calculations using the experimentally determined enthalpy of formation show that high‐energy composite propellant formulations containing TKX‐50 are inferior in a specific impulse to compositions based on CL‐20 and HMX.