Ignitable heterogeneous stratified structure for the propagation of an internal exothermic chemical reaction along an expanding wavefront and method of making same

An ignitable heterogeneous stratified structure for supporting the propagation of an internal chemical reaction along an expanding wavefront from an ignition starting point, comprising:

• alternating stratiforms of a first exothermic-constituent material and a second exothermic-constituent material fused together as a whole with a mutual interface of said first exothermic-constituent material reacted with said second exothermic-constituent material, wherein said first exothermic-constituent material independently has a uniform thickness "t.sub.a " in the range of 20-10,000 .ANG. (0.002-1.0 .mu.m), said second exothermic-constituent material independently has a uniform thickness "t.sub.b " in the range of 20-10,000 .ANG. (0.002-1.0 .mu.m), said interface of reacted first and second exothermic-constituent materials independently has a thickness "t.sub.i " in the range of 3-180 .ANG. (0.0003-0.018 .mu.m, wherein a recurring interval "D" that can occur more than once in a single structure is equal to t.sub.a +t.sub.b +2t.sub.i and is in the range of 50-20,000 .ANG. (0.005-2.0 .mu.m);
• wherein said first and second exothermic-constituent materials are limited to materials that can entirely provide between themselves a self-sustained exothermic chemical reaction once started by an externally-sourced ignition;
• and
• said stratified structure is capable of creating a predictable velocity "V" in the range of 0.2-100 meters per second that depends on the relative proportions of said thicknesses of said first and second exothermic-constituent materials "t.sub.a " and "t.sub.b ", and said thickness "t.sub.i " of said interface of reacted first and second exothermic-constituent materials, expressed mathematically as, ##EQU10## where said recurring interval "D" equals t.sub.a +t.sub.b +2t.sub.i, "K" is an energy release constant having a range of 100-20,000 meters .ANG./sec, and the exponent "n" is a constant that ranges from 0.8 to 1.2.