Imaging high jitter, very fast phenomena: A remedy for shutter lag.

Dielectric breakdown is an example of a natural phenomenon that occurs on very short time scales, making it incredibly difficult to capture optical images of the process. Event initiation jitter is one of the primary challenges, as even a microsecond of jitter time can cause the imaging attempt to fail. Initial attempts to capture images of dielectric breakdown using a gigahertz frame rate camera and an exploding bridge wire initiation were stymied by high initiation jitter.

Switchable Explosives: Performance Tuning of Fluid-Activated High Explosive Architectures.

We present our discovery of switchable high explosives (HEs) as a new class of energetic material that cannot detonate unless filled with a fluid. The performance of fluid-filled additive-manufactured HE lattices is herein evaluated by analysis of detonation velocity and Gurney energy. The Gurney energy of the unfilled lattice was 98% lower than that of the equivalent water-filled lattice and changing the fluid mechanical properties allowed tuning of the Gurney energy and detonation velocity by 8.

Effects of Low-Level Gamma Radiation on Common Nitroaromatic, Nitramine, and Nitrate Ester Explosives.

The aging of high explosives in an ionizing radiation field is not well understood, and little work has been done in the low dose and low dose rate regime. In this study, four explosives were exposed to low-level gamma irradiation from a Cs source: PETN, PATO, and PBX 9501 both with and without the Irganox 1010 stabilizer. Post-irradiation analysis included GC-MS of the headspace gas, SEM of the pellets and powder, NMR spectroscopy, DSC analysis, impact sensitivity tests, and ESD sensitivity tests.

Monolithic Nanoporous Gold Foams with Catalytic Activity for Chemical Vapor Deposition Growth of Carbon Nanostructures.

While bulk gold is generally considered to be a catalytically inactive material, nanostructured forms of gold can in fact be highly catalytically active. However, few methods exist for preparing high-purity macroscopic forms of catalytically active gold. In this work, we describe the synthesis of catalytically active macroscopic nanoporous gold foams via combustion synthesis of gold bis(tetrazolato)amine complexes.