Essential Factors for Explosive Compaction of Nanodiamond-Metal Composite

This paper considers a process of explosive compaction of detonation-produced nanodiamond powder together with nanopowders of metals to create composites. Use of particles of the nanodiamond having unique properties (hardness, heat conductivity, etc.) will allow obtaining of composite material with increased physical and mechanical properties. We considered powders of copper and aluminum as a metal matrix. As a result of theoretical consideration of the shockwave compaction for powder mixtures, we offered and discussed the conditions of explosive compaction. The compaction process can be characterized by a set of values of the shockwave pressure which define powder compaction, deformation, and particle heating. These values are: 1. minimum shockwave pressure under which the compaction and the shockwave in the powder do not occur; 2. pressure under which there is a jet cleaning of the particle surface; 3. pressure that will result in a homogeneous compact with maximum density; 4. pressure under which there is a phase transition of particles. Our research presents the result of calculations of the pressure thresholds for various powders of metals in mix with detonation-produced nanodiamond.