Influence of Varying Al/Ni Thicknesses Ratio on Reaction Behaviors and Mechanical Properties of Al/Ni Energetic Laminates

Al/Ni energetic laminates with various Al/Ni thickness ratios were prepared by electrodeposition and hot pressing method to investigate the effect of the thickness ratios on mechanical properties and exothermic energy of the composites. In this study, the different Al/Ni thickness ratios of 9:4, 9:6, 9:8 and 9:10 were determined by varying the initial thickness of Ni layers. The results showed that the Al/Ni laminate with the thickness ratio of 9:4 had the largest exothermic heat of 1139 J/g, while the laminate with 9:10 possessed the optimum mechanical properties, such as the tensile strength of 395.8 MPa, the elongation of 13.3% and the bending strength of 706 MPa. It was found that the tensile properties and plastic forming properties of the laminates were enhanced continuously with the increasing proportion of nickel layers due to higher strength and the improving collaborative deformation of Al/Ni multilayers, when the Al/Ni thickness ratio altered from 9:4 to 9:10. Meanwhile, the exothermic reaction energy was declined significantly because of the increasing proportion of the exothermic reaction to form AlNi₃ compounds, which possessed the lower energy density. In addition, the effect of Al/Ni thickness ratio on the reaction paths in the continuous heating process was also studied.