Adhesive measurements of polymer bonded explosive constituents using the JKR experimental technique with a viscoelastic contact description

It has been shown experimentally that under many circumstances the strength limiting factor of Polymer Bonded Explosives (PBXs) is the adhesion which exists between the filler crystals and the polymer matrix. Experimental measurements of the Work of Adhesion between different binders and glass have been conducted using the JKR experimental technique, a reversible axisymmetric fracture experiment, during which the area of contact and the applied force are both measured during loading and unloading of the interface. The data taken with this technique show a rate dependence not present in the analytical JKR theory which is normally used to describe the adhesive contact of two elastic bodies, and which arises from the viscoelastic properties of the bulk polymer. The data is intended to inform the development, and validate the predictions of, microstructural models of PBX deformation and failure.