PhD Studentship in Micromechanical Modelling of Energetic Crystals for Estimating the Thermomechanical Response at High Strain Rates

The aim of the research is to develop a computational model to predict the thermomechanical response of pentaerythritol tetranitrate (PETN) energetic crystal powders under high strain rate loading. The model will enable the prediction of associated hot-spot ignition as a function of relevant parameters such as crystal size and porosity. Such models will be extremely valuable design tools; relying on experiments alone is problematic as high strain rates often contaminate data due to inertia effects. In addition, it is not currently possible to visualize experimentally the deformation and thermal process at the crystal length scale. The latter is important as it determines the highly localized large deformation and accompanying temperature rise/ignition. The project will build on substantial prior research into micromechanical models for predicting the constitutive response of highly particulate composites at Imperial, linking the microstructure to the bulk response of inhomogeneous materials.