Nanocomposite thermite powders with improved flowability prepared by mechanical milling

Nanocomposite thermite powders are of interest to develop variety of reactive parts and components. Manufacturing these components requires tailoring such properties of the thermite powders as their particle size distributions, particle shapes, and powder flowability. An improved flowability is desired to use such powders as feedstock in additive manufacturing. Arrested reactive milling (ARM) offers a versatile and practical approach for preparing nanocomposite thermites with fully dense particles, which will retain their structures and mixedness between reactive components while being stored, handled, and processed. Here, ARM is modified to include an additional milling stage to tune the shapes and flowability of the prepared powders. Experiments are performed with aluminum-rich Al·Fe2O3 thermites. After the initial nanocomposite thermite is prepared in a planetary mill, it is additionally milled at a reduced rotation rate, replacing milling balls with smaller glass beads, and adding different liquid process control agents. Powders with modified particle shapes and size distributions are obtained, which have substantially improved flowability compared to the initial material. The reactivity of the initial and modified powders is evaluated using different methods. The reactivity of the modified powders is not diminished; instead, an improved reactivity is observed for selected samples.