 |
 |
Characterization of Inkjet-printed Explosive Materials
M.E. Farrell, E.L. Holthoff, L.S. Marcus, P.M. Pellegrino
US Army Research Lab, US
Keywords: explosive, detection, hazard, military, substrate, ammonium nitrate, RDX, PETN, urea, Raman
Summary:
The requirement to detect hazardous materials at both point and standoff distances has led to the development of laser-based hazard detection systems with immediate application for the security and safety of the US military, national security agencies, and environmental response teams. In particular, common explosive and improvised explosive device (IED) materials have motivated research efforts toward detecting trace (100 µg/cm2) quantities of these threats on multiple surfaces. Test coupons must demonstrate realistic concentrations, mimic real life particle sizes, and be fabricated on a host of substrate materials in order to evaluate the ability of these systems to accurately detect and identify hazard materials. At the Army Research Laboratory (ARL) we have developed a standardized sample preparation method for the evaluation of systems using test coupons with known concentrations of target material for the evaluation of the hazard detection systems. ARL test coupons are fabricated using an inkjet printing system. We will discuss the printing and characterization of test coupons for common explosive materials, like cyclotrimethylenetrinitramine (RDX), pentaerythritol tetranitrate (PETN), ammonium nitrate (AN) and urea. The explosives are printed onto substrates that mimic real world test conditions.
