Investigations of ETPE formulations for additive manufacturing

Additive manufacturing methods are emerging fields that are under investigation for production of propellants and explosives. Fraunhofer ICT investigated GAP-based EPTE formulations as a starting point for energetic filaments that can be processed according to the Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) method. For high energy content an energetic crystalline filler (e.g. RDX, HMX) content above 50wt% is needed. However, the viscosities of the energetic filament formulations are then too high and these formulations cannot easily be processed by commercial FDM printers. We tested 2,4-dinitroanisole (DNAN) and the energetic ionic liquid 4-amino-1-butyl-1,2,4-triazolium nitrate (C4 N) as an additive to reduce viscosity and therefore enable processability via FDM printers.