Defence Technology xxx (xxxx) xxx

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Defence Technology
journal homepage: www.keaipublishing.com/en/journals/defence-technology

A micro-chip exploding foil initiator based on printed circuit board

technology
Zhi Yang a, b, Peng Zhu a, b, *, Qing-yun Chu a, b, Qiu Zhang a, b, Ke Wang a, b,
Hao-tian Jian a, b, Rui-qi Shen a, b
a
School of Chemical Engineering, Nanjing University of Science and Technology, Nanjing, 210094, China
b
Micro-Nano Energetic Devices Key Laboratory, Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, Nanjing, 210094, China

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Conventional exploding foil initiator (EFI) in ignition or detonation applications hosts many performance
Received 17 March 2021 advantages, but was hindered by the bulky, inaccurate, inefficient and expensive shortcomings. We
Received in revised form highlight a novel micro-chip exploding foil initiator (McEFI) using printed circuit board (PCB) technology.
27 May 2021
The structural parameters were determined based on energy coupling relationship at the component
Accepted 8 June 2021
Available online xxx
interfaces. Next, the prototype McEFI has been batch-fabricated using PCB technology, with a monolithic
structure of 7.0 mm (l)
4.5 mm (w)
4.0 mm (d). As expected, this PCB-McEFI illustrated the successful
firing validations for explosives pellets. This paper has addressed the cost problem in both military
Keywords:
Exploding foil initiator
munitions and civil markets wherever reliable, insensitive and timing-dependent ignition or detonation
Printed circuit board are involved.
Monolithic structure © 2021 China Ordnance Society. Publishing services by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of KeAi Communications
Firing validations Co. Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/
licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

1. Introduction because unintentionally current signals from such as electromag-

Explosive is a kind of energetic material with high energy
density, which plays an important role in the progress of human
civilization. How to realize its output with high safety and reli-
ability is a practical problem that needs to be solved immediately.
Exploding foil initiator (EFI), also known as slapper detonator, was
first introduced by Stroud JR in 1976 [1]. EFI consists of a substrate, a
bridge foil, a flyer layer, a barrel and an explosive pellet. When a
desired short-duration pulse shock is met, EFI operates by accel-
erating a plastic flyer disk to a high velocity and then directing the
flyer fragment into the output explosive [2e8]. The impact induces
a shock wave that causes combustion or detonation of the explosive
pellet when fits the critical energy initiation criteria [9e11]. This
work mode ensures the excellent shot to shot repeatability
compared with counterparts [12]. Another merit of EFI is that the
bridge foil and explosive pellet are physically separated by a thin
insulating material and an air gap. This contributes to safety
* Corresponding author. School of Chemical Engineering, Nanjing University of
Science and Technology, Nanjing, 210094, China.
E-mail address: zhupeng@njust.edu.cn (P. Zhu).
Peer review under responsibility of China Ordnance Society
netic interference or electrostatic discharge have no access to
accidents.
Components are individually hand-placed to construct a single
assembly of conventional EFI, which results in disadvantages of
bulky, inaccuracy, inefficient, and expensive. Therefore, after EFI
was proposed microelectronic fabrication technique had been
adopted to the fabrication of EFI in order to realize miniaturization,
integration, mass-production, and low-cost [13,14]. However, such
EFI structures cannot be assured to resist impact-load under harsh
environments, due to the fragile substrate materials [15,16]. In
addition, there were multi-steps in the fabrication process [17],
which reduced the efficiency. As a result, the high price still re-
mains [18], impeding the widespread utilization of EFI.
Printed circuit board (PCB) is an established and promising
technology capable of mass-producing electric circuits at low cost.
The modular integration of electromechanical components and
functions can be supported, because PCB technology provides the
opportunity between electronic elements and electrical connec-
tions. Especially the PCB process is suitable for the production of
multi-layer boards, which ensures the increased design flexibility,
reduced device volume, and improved automation level. It will
certainly overturn the fabrication idea if this radical process be
adopted to develop an EFI.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dt.2021.06.008
2214-9147/© 2021 China Ordnance Society. Publishing services by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of KeAi Communications Co. Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-
ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

Please cite this article as: Z. Yang, P. Zhu, Q.-y. Chu et al., A micro-chip exploding foil initiator based on printed circuit board technology, Defence
Technology, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dt.2021.06.008
Z. Yang, P. Zhu, Q.-y. Chu et al. Defence Technology xxx (xxxx) xxx

This paper discusses the design, fabrication and characterization

of a low-cost micro-chip exploding foil initiator (McEFI) using PCB
technology. The structural parameters were developed applying
simulation and modeling on its components. The novel McEFI was
monolithic, and had an overall size of 7.0 mm (l)
4.5 mm
(w)
4.0 mm (d). The prototype configuration was examined by the
micro-computed tomography (mCT), which indicated that the PCB
technology meet the requirements of machining accuracy.
Furthermore, the primary characteristics of PCB-McEFI were per-
formed and discussed, including the electrical-explosion properties
and initiation capabilities. This revolutionary innovation of prepa-
ration process truly implements the popularization of McEFI with
impact-load resistance and negligible cost, and allows for the direct
integration into the discharging circuit.

2. Design, simulation and modeling

2.1. Electro-thermal simulation of Cu bridge foil

A high-voltage is typically applied across two contacts (also

called pads) at the ends of the bow-tie region, which introduces a
proportionately large current density in the necked-down portion
(bridge foil). According to the working principle of EFI, the metal
bridge foil plays the role of converting the electric energy stored in
the capacitor into the kinetic energy of the flyer, thus it is expected
to be heated uniformly and exploded simultaneously. Therefore, an
electro-thermal analysis was first conducted with the solution of
the transient heat conduction equation [19],

vT Fig. 1. (a) Mesh generation of the model; (b) zoom in detail of the Cu bridge foil.
cV rF ¼ se jEj2 þ V,ðlK VTÞ (1)
vt

where cV is the specific heat capacity of Cu at constant volume, J/kg/
K; rF is the density, kg/m3; T is the temperature, K; t is the time, s; se
is the electrical conductivity, S/m; E is the electrical field intensity,
V/m; and lK is the heat conductivity, W/m/K.
Furthermore, the heat capacity, electrical conductivity, and heat
conductivity are all related to the temperature, and can be
described empirically as follows,
melting point (1358 K).
Fig. 1 shows the mesh generation of the model and the zoom in
detail of bridge foil with sectional size of 400 mm (l)
400 mm (w).
When the sectional size is fixed, the thickness of bridge foil is the
only determinant that directly affects the endothermic melting
reaction by adjusting the resistance value. There is skin effect in
high frequency circuit. The skin-effect depth can be calculated by
combining the angular frequency of current (u ¼ 1.57
107 rad/s)

h i1
cV ¼ 0:1004T þ 355:12 se ¼  4:12
1010 þ 0:113
105 ðT=11604Þ1:145 lK ¼  0:0685T þ 420:75 (2)

with the magnetic permeability (m ¼ 4p
107 H/m) and electrical

The electro-thermal process should obey the current continuity
equation,
V , J ¼ E,Vse þ se V,E ¼ 0
where J is the current density, A/m2.
Assuming the current across the bridge foil rises to 3000 A
within 100 ns, it can be simplified to a sinusoid, as


iðtÞ ¼ 3000 sin 1:57
107 t
The heat exchange between the bridge foil and the environment
is ignored in such a short period of time, that is, electro-thermal
action is calculated in an adiabatic process. Electro-thermal anal-
ysis of the bridge foil was performed by COMSOL Multiphysics 5.3
program to exhibit temperature gradient distribution before
conductivity of Cu (se ). According to equation (2), the maximum
conductivity of Cu is 6.00
107 S/m at 298.15 K, so the minimum
skin-effect depth of 41 mm is obtained. The skin effect of current can
(3) be neglected because the minimum depth is large than the foil
thickness.
It was evaluated that the melting time of Cu bridge foil with
thicknesses varying from 1 mm to 9 mm, and Fig. 2 shows the
simulation results under the action of instantaneously large pulse
current of 3.00 kA/100 ns. First, when the thickness is larger than
(4) 5 mm, the melting point lags behind the risetime to the peak cur-
rent, which is unfavorable to make the electrical-explosion come
true. On the other hand, the foil size should be adequate to ensure
the enough output pressure generated from gases and plasma
during the electrical-explosion. Accordingly, the right thickness of
5 mm has been ascertained, and the size of bridge foil has been set
as 400 mm (l)
400 mm (w)
5 mm (d).

2
Z. Yang, P. Zhu, Q.-y. Chu et al. Defence Technology xxx (xxxx) xxx

Table 1
Material properties for the terminal flyer velocity.

Material r/(g$cm3) d/mm Gurney constants

Cu 8.89 5 k ¼ 2.1754
109, n ¼ 1.1774 [21]

FR-4 1.94 75 /

on the substrate. FR-4 is one of the most common PCB substrates,

whose base material consists of epoxy resin and fiber-glass cloth. In
order to improve the manufacturing efficiency and the prototype
integration, FR-4 was directly selected as the flyer material in this
work. The thickness of FR-4 flyer was set as 75 mm limited by the
drilling precision of PCB approach. First, the terminal velocity of FR-
4 flyer was calculated using the electrical gurney energy model
[20],
sffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
2kJ nb
vf ¼ (5)
1=3 þ R
Fig. 2. Melting time of Cu bridge foil with thicknesses varying from 1 mm to 9 mm.
where vf is the terminal velocity, m/s; k and n are two constants
related to bridge foil material; R is the mass ratio of flyer to bridge
Fig. 3 shows the electro-thermal coupling results at different foil per unit area; and Jb is the burst current density, A/cm2.
times ranging from 40 ns to 110 ns, where Fig. 3(a) illustrates there R can be solved with the following equation:
is a tiny rise in temperature emerging at four corners at 40 ns. As
current flow continues in time, the temperature gradually rises in rf df
R¼ (6)
the middle of the foil, and spreads into the surrounding areas. The rF dF
global temperature rises faster and faster, finally reaches the
melting point at about 105 ns, locating between Fig. 3(e) and (f). where rf and rF are the densities, g/cm3; df and dF are the thick-
Consequently, the main body is heated almost-uniformly with a nesses of flyer and bridge foil respectively, mm.
very small melting time difference, which predicts the Cu bridge When the parameters of Cu bridge foil and FR-4 flyer were
foil burst almost-synchronously. With the increase of the current determined, vf depended only on the Jb,
rising rate, the time to reach melting point is shortened and the
difference is reduced, which is more conducive to the simultaneous Ib
Jb ¼ (7)
electrical-explosion. S

where Ib is the burst current, A; S is the cross-sectional area, cm2.

2.2. Calculation of FR-4 flyer shock pressure and duration The material properties used for the calculation of flyer velocity
are shown in Table 1. Assuming the burst current is 2.25 kA, the
PCB substrate generally refers to the copper clad laminate, and calculated burst current density is 1.13
108 A/cm2, then the ter-
one can obtain the desired circuit patterns or mechanical structures minal velocity of 1907 m/s can be figured out.

Fig. 3. Electro-thermal simulation results of Cu bridge foil.

3
Z. Yang, P. Zhu, Q.-y. Chu et al. Defence Technology xxx (xxxx) xxx

Next, we evaluate the shock pressure of FR-4 flyer imparting to
explosive of HNS-IV (Hexanitrostilbene, [C6H2(NO2)3CH]2) pellet
[22,23],
pe ¼ re De ue
where pe is the shock pressure of flyer imparting to explosive, GPa;
re is the density of explosive pellet, g/cm3; De is the shock wave
velocity in the pellet, m/s; and ue is the particle velocity of explo-
sive, m/s.
There is a linear relationship between the shock wave velocity
and the particle velocity:
De ¼ ce þ le ue
where ce and le are Hugoniot coefficients of the explosive.
Consequently, the shock pressure can be derived using (8) and
(9):
pe ¼ re ðce þ le ue Þue
According to Newton's third law of motion, the flyer will be
subject to the reaction force from the explosive pellet:


pf ¼ rf Df vf  uf
similarly where pf is the shock pressure of the explosive pellet on
the flyer, rf is the density of flyer, Df is the shock wave velocity in the
flyer, uf is the particle velocity of flyer, and vf is the terminal flyer
velocity calculated by Eqs. (5)e(7).
There is also a linear relationship between Df and uf:


Df ¼ cf þ lf vf  uf
similarly where cf and lf are Hugoniot coefficients of the flyer.
The shock pressure is acquired with (11) and (12):
h
i
 terials, and its thickness was 2.0 mm. The length and width of the
pf ¼ rf cf þ lf vf  uf vf  uf
Both the particle velocity and the shock pressure are continuous
at the impact interface, that is
u ¼ uf ¼ ue ; p ¼ pf ¼ pe
Accordingly, the particle velocity and the shock pressure can be
obtained using Eqs. (10), (13) and (14).
A shock wave emerges in the FR-4 flyer, because the shock
impedance (rD) of HNS-IV pellet is larger than that of the flyer.
Subsequently a rarefaction wave is reflected when the shock wave
arrives at the free surface of flyer. The shock duration is the time
before the rarefaction wave catches up the shock wave, thus the
shock duration is calculated with the FR-4 flyer thickness,
2df
t¼
Df
The shock wave velocities and particle velocities of a fiber-glass
reinforced polyester were given in the reference [24], so the
approximate Hugoniot coefficients of FR-4 flyer were obtained by
Table 2
Material properties for the shock pressure and shock duration.
linear fitting with these data. Coefficients for the calculation of
shock pressure and shock duration are listed in Table 2.
The calculated shock pressure and shock duration were 6.26 GPa
and 39.82 ns, respectively, corresponding to the calculated velocity
(8) of 1907 m/s. It is indicated that PCB-McEFI is feasible to detonate
the HNS-IV pellets due to such high shock pressure and duration,
compared with the reference results [25e27].
2.3. Determination of FR-4 barrel dimension
The barrel is another key component in the McEFI, which plays
three main roles: (1) shearing the FR-4 film into flyer; (2) providing
the accelerating distance for FR-4 flyer; (3) alleviating the influence
(9) of rarefaction wave on the shock pressure. This demands the barrel
should be provided with sharp edge and good perpendicularity, so
materials such as sapphire, stainless steel, silicon and SU-8
photoresist have been widely utilized in the previous study. How-
ever, these barrel materials are not conducive to realize batch-
preparation of McEFI via PCB technology. In this work, FR-4 was
(10)
directly worked as barrel, simplifying the preparation processes.
The diameter (f) of FR-4 barrel should be capable of involving
the electrical-explosion area, which is usually determined by the
side length of bridge foil. When f is set as 600 mm, the melting zone
(11) of bridge foil is exactly covered by the barrel according to the
electro-thermal simulation results in section 2.1, which is advan-
tageous to make the most of electrical-explosion energy. The
theoretical height (d) of FR-4 barrel is corresponding to the value
where flyer reaches its peak velocity, which is conducive to the
impact of flyer on explosive pellet. In our previous work [15], we
adopted the ceramic flyer with 50 mm thickness, whose mass is
almost the same as 75 mm-thick FR-4 flyer. Hence, we set the same
height as 400 mm in this work.
(12)
The FR-4 substrate, also called reflector, should has enough
hardness or stiffness to avoid deformation, aiming to completely
reflect the electric explosion. Accordingly, the FR-4 substrate was
thickened compared with the conventional silicon or ceramic ma-
(13) substrate depend on the size of bridge foil, and to be set as
7.0 mm (l)
4.5 mm (w). In summary, the structural parameters of
PCB-McEFI are listed in Table 3.
3. Experimental setup
(14)
3.1. Fabrication of PCB-McEFI
PCB technology with multilayer boards refers to the technology
that multiple PCBs (single-sided or double-sided copper clad lam-
inates) were laminated together with pressure attributing to the
bonding effect of heating prepregs (PP). Fig. 4(a) shows the McEFI
was batch-fabricated by laminating two PCBs, where PCB-1and
PCB-2 had the same overall size of 7.0 mm (l)
4.5 mm
(w)
2.0 mm (d).
Unlike multi-steps are required to prepare each component in
(15)
our previous work [17], in this work PCB technology can realize the
integrated preparation of McEFI. There were six detailed steps to
manufacture PCB-McEFI. (1) PCB-1 with double-sided copper of
Table 3
Structural parameters of PCB-McEFI.
Structure Parameter

FR-4 substrate 7.0 mm (l)
4.5 mm (w)
2.0 mm (d)

Material r /(g·cm3) c /(m·s1) l
Cu bridge foil 400 mm (l)
400 mm (w)
5 mm (d)
HNS-IV 1.60 2200 [22] 1.45 [22] FR-4 flyer 600 mm (f)
75 mm (d)
FR-4 1.94 2594 [24] 1.37 [24] FR-4 barrel 600 mm (f)
400 mm (d)

4
Z. Yang, P. Zhu, Q.-y. Chu et al.
Fig. 4. (a) PCB laminating process for the fabrication; (b) photograph of PCB-McEFI.
about 12 mm-thickness was first obtained using electroplating
technology, then the Cu foil was reduced to about 5 mm in the acid
cupric chloride (CuCl2) etchant with a certain concentration. (2) Cu
bridge foil was acquired on the Top layer of PCB-1 (L3), based on
photolithographic masking and etching approaches. The photo-
lithographic masking processes played the role of pattern transfer
from an ultraviolet-sensitive dry film to the Cu surface, which
consisted of main procedures of coating, exposure and developing.
Other undesirable Cu that was not protected with dry film would be
etched in the CuCl2 etchant. (3) PCB-1 and PCB-2 were pressed-
laminated with the bonding effect of a 25 mm-thick PP. (4) In or-
der to introduce the large pulse current into the bridge foil, via-
holes (plating-holes) passing through two pads were fabricated
using plated-through-hole technology after mechanical drilling. (5)
Two rectangular Cu pads coating with electroless nickel immersion
gold, were prepared on the Bottom layer of PCB-1 (L4), which
facilitate the electrical connection with surface mounted technol-
ogy. (6) From the Top layer of PCB-2 (L1), the FR-4 barrel was
formed by drilling the PCB-2 up to the reserved flyer layer, and the
height of barrel was 400 mm. Due to the FR-4 board and PP had the
same main material of fiber-glass, the height of FR-4 flyer was
75 mm consisting of 50 mm-thick FR-4 board and 25 mm-thick PP. A
larger hole was drilled with diameter of 2.4 mm, which worked as a
shell for the explosive pellet. As a result, Fig. 4(b) shows the
5
Defence Technology xxx (xxxx) xxx
photograph of PCB-McEFI, with an overall dimension of
7.0 mm (l)
4.5 mm (w)
4.0 mm (d).
3.2. Configuration examination of prototype
A mCT can reconstruct the 3D (three dimensional) and sectional
appearances of an objective down to microscale. The internal
structure of the PCB-McEFI could not be photographed using a
traditional optical camera due to the existence of the cover board
(PCB-2), thus its 3D morphology was reproduced with mCT
technique.
3.3. Primary characteristics of PCB-McEFI
The electrical-explosion means the process of metal bridge foil
is exploded by the large pulse current from a high-voltage capac-
itor. This complex process made the energy conversion that
benefited from a phase transition from solid to liquid, liquid to gas,
then to plasma. Fig. 5 shows the schematic diagram of discharging
circuit for Cu bridge foil, including high-voltage capacitor, pulse
power switch, bridge foil, and circuit connections. The lumped
resistance (Rl) and lumped inductance (Ll) of the discharging circuit
were about 140 mU and 40 nH, respectively.
The voltage signal across the bridge foil was obtained with a
high-voltage probe (Teledyne LeCroy HVD3605A), and the circuit
current was monitored by a Rogowski coil (CWTUM/30/R with a
sensitivity of 1 V/kA). These two waveforms were recorded using a
digital storage oscilloscope (LeCroy WR 104Xi-A with a bandwidth
of 1 GHz, at a sampling rate of 10 Gs/s), and other electrical pa-
rameters can be acquired with them. In this paper, the electrical
parameters were determined under discharging voltages varying
from 1.25 kV to 2.00 kV (the capacitance were 0.22 mF or 0.40 mF),
including the peak current, peak voltage, peak current time, burst
time, burst current, burst power, burst energy, and energy depo-
sition ratio.
Ultra-high-speed photography has been widely popular among
fluids experiments, which provides with precise information of the
event through capturing a sequence of video frames with high
temporal and spatial resolution. In order to give a complete visu-
alization of explosion, the flow field of bridge foil was observed via
an ultra-high-speed framing camera (SIM X, belongs to the Speci-
alised Imaging Ltd). This real-world measurement supplemented
the details to understand the electrical-explosion history from the
starting of capacitor discharging. At last, the prototype PCB-McEFI
was utilized to directly check the firing properties of explosives,
consisting of the shock ignition of BPN (the mixture of boron and
Fig. 5. Schematic diagram of the discharging circuit for Cu bridge foil.
Z. Yang, P. Zhu, Q.-y. Chu et al.
Fig. 6. Cu bridge foil morphology of 2D (a) and 3D (b) via laser confocal microscopy.
potassium nitrate, B/KNO3) and the shock detonation of HNS-IV.
4. Results and discussion
4.1. Configuration by advanced optical photography
Fig. 6 shows the construction of Cu bridge foil via laser confocal
microscopy, whose 2D and 3D appearances are presented in
Fig. 6(a) and (b), respectively. In Fig. 6(a), the length and width of
bridge foil were 405 mm and 397 mm, respectively, which fit the
designed parameters. Therefore, photolithographic masking and
etching processes could meet the requirements of precise pattern
of bridge foil. Furthermore, the electrodeposited Cu foil had a rather
coarse surface presented in Fig. 6(b), and the average thickness was
4.9 mm.
Fig. 7(a) shows the 3D configuration, including the detailed
geometries, as well as the relative positions of the bridge foil, barrel,
vias, pads, and explosive casing. This constructional detail was
consistent with the prototype, as presented in the upper-left
corner. Fig. 7(b) shows the top view, located in the inner layer
(L3). There were ten plating-holes to realize electrical conduction,
consisting of eight smaller blind-vias with 300 mm diameter and
two larger through-vias with 800 mm diameter. Fig. 7(c) shows a
cross-sectional structure, along the center and perpendicular to
YOZ plane. The two through-vias passing through the two pads
were clearly delineated, and the barrel size was 600 mm
(f)
400 mm (d). In summary, these marked structural parameters
were basically consistent with those in Table 3, indicating PCB
6
Defence Technology xxx (xxxx) xxx
Fig. 7. Scanning image of PCB-McEFI via mCT of (a) 3D tomography, (b) top view and (c)
sectional configuration.
processes could meet the precision requirements for the McEFI
fabrication.
4.2. Electrical-explosion characterizations
4.2.1. Electrical parameters of bridge foil
The electrical parameters of Cu bridge foil are listed in Table 4,
under capacitor discharging voltages ranging from 1.25 kV to
2.00 kV (the capacitances were 0.22 mF or 0.40 mF). The burst time
refers to the moment where the power calculated by voltage
multiply current climbs up to climax, which is found almost to be in
line with the time of voltage spike. At this time, the bridge foil has
been vaporized, and we can figure out the burst current, burst
power, and burst energy (the integral of power over time). The
energy deposition ratio indicates how much energy stored in the
high-voltage capacitor was transferred into the bridge foil, which
was calculated with the burst energy divided by the storage energy.
As the step-up of discharging voltages, the peak current, peak
voltage, burst current, burst power, and burst energy were all
increased under the identical high-voltage capacitor. Furthermore,
the peak current time and burst time presented an approaching
Z. Yang, P. Zhu, Q.-y. Chu et al. Defence Technology xxx (xxxx) xxx

Table 4
Electrical parameters of Cu bridge foil.

Capacitance/ Discharging voltage/ Peak current/ Peak voltage/ Peak current time/ Burst time/ Burst current/ Burst power/ Burst energy/ Energy deposition
mF kV kA kV ns ns kA MW mJ ratio/%

0.22 1.25 2.43 0.466 99.2 158 1.19 0.50 37.7 21.9
1.50 2.74 0.768 92.8 135 1.75 1.33 61.6 24.9
1.75 3.37 0.753 100 139 2.24 1.67 83.8 24.9
2.00 3.94 1.02 81.8 116 2.89 2.94 99.0 22.5
0.40 1.25 3.42 0.565 131 184 1.90 1.01 78.3 25.1
1.50 3.98 0.816 121 154 2.59 2.09 101 22.4
1.75 4.41 0.955 95.4 129 3.22 3.06 122 19.9
2.00 4.97 0.979 94.8 135 3.82 3.73 181 22.6

bridge foil was 135 ns, so its vaporization time was 20.0 ns, which
was the subtraction result by deducting the melting time of about
115 ns from the electro-thermal simulation. The results show that
once the current flowed through the bridge foil, the temperature
rise rate would be higher and higher, which was consistent with the
electro-thermal simulation. The burst current was 2.59 kA when
the Cu bridge foil operated under 0.40 mF/1.50 kV, as plotted in
Fig. 8(b). Therefore, HNS-IV pellets can be theoretically reliably-
initiated by this firing condition according to the calculated shock
pressure and duration in section 2.2.

4.2.2. Explosion flow field of bridge foil

Fig. 9 shows the photographic images for the blast flow field of
Cu bridge foil at 0.22 mF/1.50 kV, via the ultra-high-speed framing
camera of SIM X. The interval between two adjoining pictures was
kept as 20 ns with 5 ns exposure. The first photo was acquired
before burst point, so it was regarded as initial time point, the next
pictures were recorded in sequence with 20 ns interval. The
electrical-explosion phenomenon took the lead at the corners,
which was consistent with the electro-thermal simulation. This
also illustrates the rational design of the 600 mm diameter of FR-4
barrel, because the whole explosion zone of bridge foil is
completely involved by the barrel, so as to make the best of
electrical-explosion energy. The explosion took place within 40 ns
from the initial moment, and the width of explosion flow field at 60
ns was about twice as original foil width due to the adjacent areas
were affected. After that, the explosion was gradually weakened
and the field was shadowed with the dissipation of gases and
plasma. A large amount gases and plasma with high-temperature
and high-pressure were generated after the electrical-explosion,
which further boosted the FR-4 flyer in the FR-4 barrel.

4.3. Firing validation

4.3.1. Shock ignition of BPN

Fig. 10 (a) shows the capacitor discharging unit (CDU) for firing
validation. This CDU was a series circuit, including a high-voltage
Fig. 8. Typical discharging curves at conditions of 0.22 mF/1.50 kV (a) and 0.40 mF/ capacitor (located on the back of testing PCB), a PCB-PTS (planar
1.50 kV (b).
triggered spark-gap switch) [30], and a PCB-McEFI. Fig. 10(b) il-
lustrates the operation of shock ignition. Cu bridge foil was
exploded into gases, plasma and shock waves, to shear and drive
tendency with the increase of voltages from 1.25 kV to 2.00 kV,
the FR-4 flyer inside the FR-4 barrel, finally high-speed flyer out of
which is conducive to enhance the burst current and the final ve-
the barrel impacted the pellet to realize firing output. The experi-
locity. The energy deposition ratios were at a rather low level,
ment results show that BPN pellets with size of 2.3 mm
ranging from 19.9% to 25.1%, with a mean value of 23.0%. We hold
(f)
2.0 mm (H) were ignited under the minimum firing condition
the reason was the thick foil and the rather coarse surface, which
of 0.22 mF/1.50 kV. Fig. 10(c) shows the image frames of BPN flame
was disadvantageous to introduce a good electrical-explosion
recorded using high-speed photography. The ignition and com-
[28,29].
bustion period with 249 ms could be divided into three stages,
Fig. 8(a) shows the typical discharging curves at the state of 0.22
including the heating stage with a faint spot, the growth stage with
mF/1.50 kV, which plots the instantly large pulse current with peak
bright spark that grew to its maximum within 15 ms, and the
value of 2.74 kA after the risetime of 92.8 ns. The burst time of
extinction stage as the combustion ended.
7
Z. Yang, P. Zhu, Q.-y. Chu et al. Defence Technology xxx (xxxx) xxx

Fig. 9. Explosion flow field of Cu bridge foil via an ultra-high-speed framing camera.

Fig. 10. Shock ignition of BPN. (a) CDU for firing validation. (b) Operation of shock ignition. (c) Images of BPN flame via high-speed photography at 0.22 mF/1.50 kV.

4.3.2. Shock detonation of HNS-IV
EFI is also frequently adopted to realize the shock-to-detonation
transition of explosives, and HNS-IV is a well characterized explo-
sive that has been utilized in EFI for several decades [31e33]. This is
due to its reliable threshold energy to short-duration pulse shock
under high-speed impact with small-size thin flyer plates, and its
excellent thermal and shock stabilities.
Fig. 11 shows the SEM (scanning electron microscope) image of
HNS-IV powder, which was prepared via a homemade microfluidic
platform with inherent safety and high throughput [34]. The
average particle size of HNS-IV was about 200 nm, so the calculated
SSA was about 17 m2/g [35], which fitted the specification. HNS-IV
pellets were die-pressed in a mould to the dimension of 2.3 mm
(f)
2.0 mm (d) with the density of 1.60 g/cm3, as presented in the
upper-right corner of Fig. 11. By replacing the BPN pellet in Fig. 10
(a) with HNS-IV pellet, the shock results illustrated that explosive
pellets were detonated under the minimum firing state of 0.40 mF/
1.80 kV.
The burst current was 3.33 kA at 0.40 mF/1.80 kV, so we could
figure out the burst current density as Jb ¼ 1:67
108 A=cm2 ,
further get the terminal velocity vf ¼ 2403 m=s. The real velocity
was higher than the threshold velocity of 1907 m/s, with a relative

8
Z. Yang, P. Zhu, Q.-y. Chu et al.
Fig. 11. SEM image of HNS-IV and its pellets.
deviation of 26.0%. The reasons for higher firing energy were many
aspects-involved, and we hold the first determinant was the het-
erogeneous foil surface that causing a low energy utilization ratio.
Another main reason was that FR-4 flyer needed higher energy to
shear, so that less energy was reserved for driving.
It was performed with numerical simulation that the shock-to-
detonation transition of HNS-IV pellet under the FR-4 flyer impact,
in order to further check the higher firing energy compared with
Fig. 12. Pressure distribution among HNS-IV under the 2100 m/s threshold velocity.
9
Defence Technology xxx (xxxx) xxx
our previous work [15,16]. The FR-4 flyer was described with shock
equation of state (EOS). The Lee-Tarver ignition and growth model
was arranged to describe HNS-IV, including two JWL (Jones-Wil-
kins-Lee) EOS and a three-term reaction rate equation.
The JWL EOS used for unreacted explosive and reaction
products:
p ¼ AeR1 v þ BeR2 v þ ucV T (16)
where p is pressure, v is relative volume, u is the Grüneisen coef-
ficient, cV is the average heat capacity, T is temperature. A, B, R1 and
R2 are all constants.
The three-term reaction rate equation used for HNS-IV pellet:
 x
dl r
¼ Ið1  lÞb  1  a þ G1 ð1  lÞc ld py þ G2 ð1  lÞe lg pz
dt re
(17)
where l is the reaction fraction, t is the reaction time, r is the
current density, re is the initial density, p is pressure. I, G1, G2, a, b, x,
c, d, y, e, g and z are all constants.
The material properties of FR-4 were listed in Table 2, and Lee-
Tarver model parameters were provided with the reference [27].
ANSYS/AUTODYN was adopted to simulate the shock-to-detonation
transition (SDT) process, and we obtained the threshold velocity of
2100 m/s after variable-step attempts.
Fig. 12 shows the pressure distribution in HNS-IV pellet at
different reaction moments, under the 2100 m/s threshold velocity
of FR-4 flyer. The pressure increases exponentially with time, and
Z. Yang, P. Zhu, Q.-y. Chu et al.
the maximum pressure of about 22 GPa occurs at 0.4 ms. The
explosive can produce steady detonation due to the pressure ex-
ceeds the Chapman-Jouguet pressure. It can be seen that the
threshold velocity given by the simulation results is between the
theoretical threshold (1907 m/s) and the practical initiation ve-
locity (2403 m/s), which indicates the numerical simulation offers
guidance to the following optimization.
5. Conclusion
In summary, we present a novel monolithic McEFI using PCB
technology. The structural parameters were established, according
to the electro-thermal simulation result of Cu bridge foil and the
FR-4 flyer modeling relating to shock pressure and duration. The
prototype McEFI has been batch-prepared based on PCB technol-
ogy, including electroplating, photolithographic masking, etching,
laminating, and drilling processes. Importantly, the firing proper-
ties of PCB-McEFI were tested by initiating BPN and HNS-IV pellets.
The reason for high initiation energy has been explained qualita-
tively, and the SDT simulation has been performed with ignition
and growth model. In the future, the structure matching design
should be further performed to improve the energy utilization and
firing sensitivity.
Declaration of competing interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing
financial interests or personal relationships that could have
appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
Acknowledgements
We gratefully acknowledge the support from National Natural
Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 22075145).
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