Emphasis in Energetic Materials

Why Should You Apply

The Colorado School of Mines has recently approved the addition of a special emphasis sequence in Energetic Materials (Explosives) to the Materials Science graduate program. This special emphasis in Energetic Materials (Explosives) will be offered to students pursuing Ph.D. and M.S. degrees in Materials Science. This new and interdisciplinary area of emphasis will endeavor to recruit professional students from U.S. National Laboratories, government agencies, and private-sector companies. Graduate students will be closely mentored by subject-matter experts and industry professionals and will be allowed the unique opportunity to investigate material and material properties under dynamic loading, energetic materials undergoing detonation, high-fidelity technology, post-detonation phenomena, and material behavior under large-rate deformation and strain. In addition to the world-class facilities already existent on the Mines campus, including the Explosives Research Laboratory (ERL), Small-Scale Laboratory/Blasting Chamber (SSL), and the High-Fidelity Mobile Detonation Physics Laboratory (HFMDPL), cooperative participation with research personnel from Los Alamos and Sandia National Laboratories is currently being developed. Moreover, the program has the support of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. 

Who Should Apply

This degree program is being offered in the departments of: metallurgical and materials engineering, mining engineering, physics, chemical engineering and chemistry, civil engineering, mechanical engineering, applied mathematics, and other distinct STEM disciplines.

Research Fields

Shock Wave Physics and Chemistry

High strain rate behavior of materials

Shock activation of chemical reactions

Explosives Formulation and Characterization

Shock thermodynamics and equation of state

High Energy-Rate Fabrication

Explosive welding, forming, cladding, hardening, strengthening, consolidation, and synthesis

Computer Modeling

Simulation of material flow under high-velocity impacts

Simulation of explosive shock propagation

High Velocity Impact

Ballistic impact; dynamic fracture and spalling

Explosive Interaction with Materials

Fracturing and fragmentation of materials including metals, ceramics, and rock

In-situ rock blasting

Explosive comminution of rock

Adiabatic shear localization in metals

Shock-induced phase transformations

High-Fidelity Instrumentation

High-speed and ultra high-speed imaging analysis

Pressure gauges

Manganin gauges

Flash X-Ray instrumentation

Velocity of Detonation (VOD) measurement methods

Photon Doppler Velocimetry (PDV)

Vibrational spectroscopy

Gas chromatography/Mass spectrometry

Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM)

Questions?

For specific program information regarding the Energetic (Explosives) Materials special emphasis sequence, please contact Prof. Veronica Eliasson, Associate Professor in the Mechanical Engineering Department and the Mining Engineering Department at eliasson@mines.edu or (303)-384-2509.