Rheological behavior of energetic gels and suspensions

Energetic materials are typically gels or highly filled suspensions (suspensions with solid particle concentrations that approach the maximum packing fraction of the solid phase). The flow and deformation behaviors (rheology) of such gels and highly filled suspensions are complex and require special rheometers and methods of analysis for the characterization of the shear viscosity and other material functions that describe the rheological behavior as a function of temperature and deformation rate. The major factor that plays a role in the characterization of the energetic gels and highly filled suspensions is their viscoplasticity. Viscoplastic fluids exhibit a yield stress, that is, a critical shear stress (or stress magnitude) below which the viscoplastic fluid does not deform.