Critical analysis of soft point contact Andreev reflection spectra between superconducting films and pressed In.

We present a critical analysis of an alternative technique of point contact Andreev reflection (PCAR) spectroscopy used to extract energy resolved information of superconductors which is based on making 'soft-contacts' between superconductors and indium. This technique is not sensitive to mechanical vibrations and hence can be used in a cryogen free platform increasing its accessibility to users having no access to cryogenic liquids. Through our experiments on large number of superconducting films we show that the PCAR spectra below the T c of In show sub-harmonic gap structures consistent with the theory of multiple Andreev reflection (MAR) and a zero bias conductance (ZBC) anomaly associated with the Josephson supercurrent. Furthermore, we demonstrate that large contact resistance with low transparency ballistic contacts in the PCAR regime are required to obtain reliable spectroscopic data. One limitation of the technique arises for low contact resistance junctions where the superconducting proximity effect (SPE) reduces the value of the superconducting energy gap.

Environmentally compatible next generation green energetic materials (GEMs).

This paper briefly reviews the literature work reported on the environmentally compatible green energetic materials (GEMs) for defence and space applications. Currently, great emphasis is laid in the field of high-energy materials (HEMs) to increase the environmental stewardship along with the deliverance of improved performance. This emphasis is especially strong in the areas of energetic materials, weapon development, processing, and disposal operations. Therefore, efforts are on to develop energetic materials systems under the broad concept of green energetic materials (GEMs) in different schools all over the globe. The GEMs program initiated globally by different schools addresses these challenges and establishes the framework for advances in energetic materials processing and production that promote compliance with environmental regulations. This review also briefs the principles of green chemistry pertaining to HEMs, followed by the work carried out globally on environmentally compatible green energetic materials and allied ingredients.

Computer code to predict the heat of explosion of high energy materials.

The computational approach to the thermochemical changes involved in the process of explosion of a high energy materials (HEMs) vis-à-vis its molecular structure aids a HEMs chemist/engineers to predict the important thermodynamic parameters such as heat of explosion of the HEMs. Such a computer-aided design will be useful in predicting the performance of a given HEM as well as in conceiving futuristic high energy molecules that have significant potential in the field of explosives and propellants. The software code viz., LOTUSES developed by authors predicts various characteristics of HEMs such as explosion products including balanced explosion reactions, density of HEMs, velocity of detonation, CJ pressure, etc. The new computational approach described in this paper allows the prediction of heat of explosion (DeltaH(e)) without any experimental data for different HEMs, which are comparable with experimental results reported in literature. The new algorithm which does not require any complex input parameter is incorporated in LOTUSES (version 1.5) and the results are presented in this paper. The linear regression analysis of all data point yields the correlation coefficient R(2)=0.9721 with a linear equation y=0.9262x+101.45. The correlation coefficient value 0.9721 reveals that the computed values are in good agreement with experimental values and useful for rapid hazard assessment of energetic materials.

Computer code for the optimization of performance parameters of mixed explosive formulations.

LOTUSES is a novel computer code, which has been developed for the prediction of various thermodynamic properties such as heat of formation, heat of explosion, volume of explosion gaseous products and other related performance parameters. In this paper, we report LOTUSES (Version 1.4) code which has been utilized for the optimization of various high explosives in different combinations to obtain maximum possible velocity of detonation. LOTUSES (Version 1.4) code will vary the composition of mixed explosives automatically in the range of 1-100% and computes the oxygen balance as well as the velocity of detonation for various compositions in preset steps. Further, the code suggests the compositions for which least oxygen balance and the higher velocity of detonation could be achieved. Presently, the code can be applied for two component explosive compositions. The code has been validated with well-known explosives like, TNT, HNS, HNF, TATB, RDX, HMX, AN, DNA, CL-20 and TNAZ in different combinations. The new algorithm incorporated in LOTUSES (Version 1.4) enhances the efficiency and makes it a more powerful tool for the scientists/researches working in the field of high energy materials/hazardous materials.

Prediction of heat of formation and related parameters of high energy materials.

Heat of formation is one of the most important parameters in the performance prediction of explosive and propellant formulations and their individual ingredients. This paper reports the development of user-friendly computer code for the prediction of heat of formation based on two approaches. In first methodology, the logic of Benson's Group additivity method and in the second method, the logic of Pedley method was used for predicting the heats of formation of high energy materials (HEMs). The predicted heats of formation by Benson method for various classes of high energy materials gave deviation in the range of 2-10%, whereas nearly 10-15% deviation was observed using Pedley methodology in comparison to experimental values. The linear regression coefficient values (R(2)) of 0.9947 and 0.9637 are obtained for heat of formation values predicted by this code using methodologies I and II, respectively. The newly developed code LOTUSES (version 1.3) has been validated by calculating the heats of formation of standard explosives such as TNT, pentaerythritol tetranitrate (PETN), RDX, HMX, etc., To the best of our knowledge, no such code is reported in literature which can predict heats of formation values integrated with performance parameters of HEMs belonging to all categories of organic compounds viz. aliphatic, aromatic and heterocyclic materials. The code can also be used to obtain parameters such as velocity of detonation, C-J pressure, volume of explosion products, power index, temperature of explosion and oxygen balance of HEMs. The code has been developed in Visual Basic having enhanced Windows environment. This software namely LOTUSES 1.3 is an updated version of the earlier ones namely LOTUSES 1.1 and 1.2 which do not cater for the calculation of heat of formation and temperature of explosion of HEMs. LOTUSES 1.3 is, therefore, a totally integrated software for computing most of the vital parameters of HEMs requiring mainly the molecular structural information of an explosive under consideration.

Computer simulation for prediction of performance and thermodynamic parameters of high energy materials.

A new code viz., Linear Output Thermodynamic User-friendly Software for Energetic Systems (LOTUSES) developed during this work predicts the theoretical performance parameters such as density, detonation factor, velocity of detonation, detonation pressure and thermodynamic properties such as heat of detonation, heat of explosion, volume of explosion gaseous products. The same code also assists in the prediction of possible explosive decomposition products after explosion and power index. The developed code has been validated by calculating the parameters of standard explosives such as TNT, PETN, RDX, and HMX. Theoretically predicated parameters are accurate to the order of +/-5% deviation. To the best of our knowledge, no such code is reported in literature which can predict a wide range of characteristics of known/unknown explosives with minimum input parameters. The code can be used to obtain thermochemical and performance parameters of high energy materials (HEMs) with reasonable accuracy. The code has been developed in Visual Basic having enhanced windows environment, and thereby advantages over the conventional codes, written in Fortran. The theoretically predicted HEMs performance can be directly printed as well as stored in text (.txt) or HTML (.htm) or Microsoft Word (.doc) or Adobe Acrobat (.pdf) format in the hard disk. The output can also be copied into the Random Access Memory as clipboard text which can be imported/pasted in other software as in the case of other codes.