Monique McClain
Assistant Professor, Mechanical Engineering
Purdue University

Monday, February 9
12 – 1 p.m.
Location: Callaway/GTMI bldg.,
Room 114

Lunch provided for in-person attendees on a first come first serve basis.

If you can’t join us in-person, just us virtually via Zoom.

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Abstract: Composite energetic materials, such as solid rocket propellants and plastic bonded explosives, contain large amounts of energy, but are challenging to process. They consist of energetic particles (e.g. ammonium perchlorate, octogen, etc.) bound together by a small percentage of binder. Depending on the application, the particle content can range from 80 to 95 wt.% (>70 vol.%) through the use of multi-modal particle packing and casting or high pressure compaction. In general, a higher particle content results in better combustion performance (e.g. burning rate, etc.), but this makes processing more challenging. In recent years, additive manufacturing (AM) of energetics requires the use of photopolymers or dual cure polymers (i.e. thermal and UV) to avoid slump, yet uncharacterized curing histories make prediction of mechanical failure challenging. Furthermore, AM can be used to create multi-material energetics, but this now begs the question as to how these specimens will fail depending on how they are processed. Finally, this talk will discuss paths towards fabrication of energetics with tunable microstructures, which influence ignition sensitivity. Although energetic materials are a unique class of composite mixtures, the research lessons learned from advanced manufacturing of energetic materials can be applied to other particulate/binder composite mixtures, such as ceramics, metals, and short fiber mixtures.

Bio: Monique McClain is an assistant professor in the School of Mechanical Engineering with a courtesy appointment in the School of Aeronautics & Astronautics. Her background is in propulsion, energetic materials, and additive manufacturing. Her main research focus is to advance the manufacturing science necessary to develop state-of-the-art additively manufactured energetic materials (AMEMs). This includes understanding the effect of multi-material interfaces on performance, using in-situ monitoring to understand defect formation, and developing new manufacturing approaches. She received her Ph.D. from the School of Aeronautics & Astronautics from Purdue University in 2020 and has previously held positions at NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, NAWCWD China Lake, and Oak Ridge National Laboratories. She is a recipient of the AFOSR FY24 Young Investigator Award and the 2023 list for MIT Technology Review’s 35 Innovators Under 35.