Effect of CuO powder on the combustion and micro-explosion of Mg and Al12Mg17 particles

Abstract In this paper, the effects of CuO powder on the combustion and micro-explosion characteristics of Mg and Al 12 Mg 17 were studied. A laser was used to ignite particles and a high-speed micro-camera was used to record the particle ignition, flame propagation, combustion and particle changes before and after micro-explosion. Moreover, emission spectra during combustion and combustion products were analysed. The results show that the addition of CuO contributes to the micro-explosion of Mg particles during combustion, but it is not conducive to the micro-explosion of Al 12 Mg 17 particles. Meanwhile, whether Al 12 Mg 17 particles or Al 12 Mg 17 /CuO particles, the radiation peaks during combustion mainly correspond to Mg or MgO, which means that the addition of CuO cannot promote the gas phase combustion of Al in Al 12 Mg 17 .