Development of inert density mock materials for HMX

<p>Inert surrogates or mocks for high explosives are commonly used in place of the real material for complex experiments or in situations where safety is a concern. Here, several materials were tested as potential mocks for HMX in terms of density, thermal stability, and processability. Selection criteria were developed and a literature search was conducted primarily using the Cambridge Structural Database. Out of over 200 potentially acceptable materials, six were chosen for crystallization experiments and a suite of analytical characterization. Of these six, 5-iodo-2ˊ-deoxyuridine, <i>N,N</i>ˊ-bis(2,3,4,5,6-pentafluorophenyl)oxamide, and 2,3,4,5,6-pentafluorobenzamide all were found to be thermally stable at 150°C, matched HMX density as a pressed pellet, and could be crystallized to appropriate particle sizes. These three materials are considered suitable inert density mocks for HMX and will be the subject of future testing.