Study on Mechanical Properties and Impact Energy Release Characteristics of Skeleton-Structured Al/Ni Reactive Materials

Reactive materials can be employed to realize the integration of damage element kinetic energy and chemical energy damage, as well as strengthen the destruction ability of warheads. Among them, Al/Ni material has become a research hotspot because of its simple structure, easy process, and high reaction heat. In this paper, a skeleton-structured Al/Ni reactive material was successfully prepared. Additionally, both static and dynamic mechanical performance tests were conducted, along with impact experiments in a quasi-sealed chamber. Furthermore, numerical simulations of the mechanical properties of the materials were performed. The results show that the prepared reactive material has a compressive strength of 150 MPa and a tensile strength of 51 MPa, and the numerical simulation results are in good agreement with the experimental data. The impact experiments and product recovery analysis show that the material has a certain energy release ability, and the overpressure can attain 0.081 MPa at a velocity of 1370 m/s in an air atmosphere. However, the overpressure in all experiments under an argon atmosphere is less than 0.02 MPa, which proves that the main reaction under the impact condition is an oxidation reaction rather than a metal intermetallic reaction. The results of this paper provide theoretical support and a data basis for the design of three-dimensional skeletons of reactive materials and the structural optimization and improvement in mechanical properties and have certain guiding significance in the application of Al/Ni reactive materials.