ResearchArticle Preparation and Characterization of a New High-Performance Plastic Explosive in Comparison with Traditional Types Ahmed Elbeih , 1 Tamer Elshenawy, 2 Hany Amin, 2† Ahmed K. Hussein, 1 and Sara M. Hammad 3 1 Military Technical College, Kobry Elkobbah, Cairo, Egypt 2 Technical Research Center, Cairo, Egypt 3 Faculty of Pharmacy, Cairo University, Giza, Egypt † Deceased Correspondence should be addressed to Ahmed Elbeih; elbeih.czech@gmail.com Received 30 November 2018; Revised 23 February 2019; Accepted 26 February 2019; Published 2 July 2019 Academic Editor: Jose C. Merchuk Copyright©2019AhmedElbeihetal.isisanopenaccessarticledistributedundertheCreativeCommonsAttributionLicense, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. EPX-2R is a high-performance plastic explosive produced for different applications. EPX-2R is based on RDX (1,3,5-trinitro-1,3,5- triazinane) bonded by the elastic matrix of the softened styrene butadiene binder. A computerizing mixer plastograph was used for the production of EPX-2R. e internal energy of combustion was measured and used to determine the enthalpy of formation. Friction and impact sensitivities were measured. e velocity of detonation was determined experimentally, and the detonation properties were calculated by the EXPLO 5 code. For comparison, traditional plastic explosives, composition C-4, Semtex 10, FormexP1,EPX-1,andSpr¨ angdeg m/46, were studied. It was concluded that the velocity of detonation of EPX-2R was higher than the studied samples except composition C-4, while its sensitivity is the lowest. Interesting inversely proportional relationship between the measured internal energy of combustion and the calculated heat of detonation was observed. 1. Introduction Plastic explosives are produced under different trade names by several countries. e plastic explosive consists mainly of the energetic material as filler bonded by the selected rubbery material in order to reduce the sensitivity of the explosive and improve its mechanical properties [1, 2]. e main key in the production of the plastic explosive is the polymeric matrix. is matrix in addition to the mixing process has a significant influence on the characteristics of the produced plastic ex- plosive [3–5]. Several publications presented the different types of plastic explosives and compared the sensitivity and the performance of the commercially available plastic explosives [6–8]. e composition of the polymeric matrix has also a significant influence on the thermal stability of the energetic materials [9–11]. Many researches discussed the de- composition kinetics of plastic explosives produced by dif- ferent countries and their effect on the shelf life and the stability of the different products using variable techniques [12–16]. Composition C-4 (comp C4) is a commercial American plastic explosive including 1,3,5-trinitro-1,3,5-triazinane (RDX) as an energetic filler bonded by the softened ma- trix of polyisobutylene binder [17], and it has variable military applications as a destructive material [17]. Semtex 10 is a Czech plastic explosive which is used for under water blasting and demolition of rocks. It contains pentaerythritol tetranitrate (PETN) as the filler mixed with plasticized nitril rubber [18]. Formex P1 produced by France company contains a polymeric matrix of styrene butadiene rubber bond PETN explosive [19]. EPX-1 is an Egyptian plastic explosive that contains PETN explosive bonded by the nonenergetic binder, and it has been used in blasting techniques for civil applications [20]. e Sweden explosive, Spr¨ angdeg m/46, contains a mixture of viscous liquid that bonded with the energetic material, PETN [20]. In this work, the production method of advanced highly energetic plastic explosive named EPX-2R was presented. e explosive properties of the new EPX-2R in comparison Hindawi International Journal of Chemical Engineering Volume 2019, Article ID 4017068, 6 pages https://doi.org/10.1155/2019/4017068