In chemistry, ballotechnics are a class of materials that undergo a chemical reaction when quickly subjected to extreme pressures. These pressures are of the order of tens of thousands of atmospheres, and the chemical reactions are initiated by shock waves transmitted through the material. The reaction progresses with little change in volume, and are therefore not "explosive", i.e. the energy is released in the form of heat, rather than work.
Research
While most of the research performed on ballotechnics originates from Sandia National Laboratories, the researchers involved primarily focus on chemical and simulation research, not nuclear weapons research. Other research has been performed at the Georgia Institute of Technology. A critical reevaluation was written in 1995, concluding that shock compression data do not provide evidence for strong exothermic reactions, but this report was not publicly released by Sandia until 2017.
References
- Boslough, M. B. (1989). "A thermochemical model for shock-induced chemical reactions in porous solids: Analogs and contrasts to detonation". 9. International Symposium on Detonation. Portland, OR. OSTI 5978092.
- Boslough, M.B. (1990). "A thermochemical model for shock-induced reactions (heat detonations) in solids". Journal of Chemical Physics. 92 (3): 1839–1848. doi:10.1063/1.458066.
- Graham, R. A.; Anderson, M. U.; Horie, Y.; You, S.-K.; Holman, G. T. (1993). "Pressure measurements in chemically reacting powder mixtures with the Bauer piezoelectric polymer gauge". Shock Waves. 3 (2). Berlin / Heidelberg: Springer: 79–82. Bibcode:1993ShWav...3...79G. doi:10.1007/BF02115887. S2CID 120624871.
- Xu, X.; Thadhani, N. N. (2004). "Investigation of shock-induced reaction behavior of as-blended and ball-milled Ni + Ti powder mixtures using time-resolved stress measurements". Journal of Applied Physics. 96 (4): 2000–2009. Bibcode:2004JAP....96.2000X. doi:10.1063/1.1773380.
- Boslough, M.B.; Silling, S.A.; Fischer, S.H.; Cox, D.E.; Vandermolen, W.B. (2017). "Shock-Induced Solid-State reactions in Powders: An Experimentally-Based Reassessment". Sandia Report. doi:10.2172/1599975. OSTI 1599975. SAND2017-5297.