Wax Substitutes for Melt Castable Explosive Fills

Due to the phasing out of TNT usage in explosives due to safety and environmental concerns, insensitive explosives utilizing wax binders instead of TNT have gradually replaced TNT in bombs and other explosive shells. The wax material that has been the most utilized in this application has been carnauba wax, but due to its non-domestic production and its dependence on natural growth and harvest mechanisms, a substitute for this material is desired. Applied Colloids, Inc. proposes the utilization of its proprietary technology in supplying a wax substitute that is available in the United States and has met most criteria for these binder materials. Phase I of this program dealt with the initial chemical and physical testing of these materials. Phase II will be concerned with the characterization of their explosive and safety properties. At the end of Phase II, the Applied Colloids substitute will have been shown to satisfy the military specifications for carnauba wax in terms of compatibility and safety. Phase III will consist of the further scale-up of the production of this wax substitute and the extension of this technology into commercial fields, such as phase change materials.