LAUSR

Abstract Polycrystalline solids composed of crystals with anisotropic thermal expansion coefficients exhibit ratchet growth (RG), a phenomenon characterized by a cumulative and irreversible volume expansion that develops upon exposing the material to cyclic excursions in temperature. We developed a statistical model for RG. The model attributes RG to the formation of intergranular cracks caused by tessellated internal stresses that develop during the thermal excursions. It is postulated that different sets of internal cracks form upon heating and cooling the polycrystalline solid. The model reproduces RG measurements in pressed TATB and PBX 9502 energetic materials and suggests an explanation for why the amplitude of RG generated by a heating excursion is larger than that generated by a subsequent cooling excursion of the same amplitude.