This study explored the reaction characteristics and the burning properties of Zirconium/Boron type and Titanium/Boron type alloy delay compositions. Firstly, the initial reaction temperature and reaction heat of these two type delay compositions were measured by means of differential scanning calorimeter (DSC), which call aid to understand the reaction characteristics in advance. Afterward these delay compositions of different formulas were processed to be cylindrical pellets and were characterized by measuring their burning properties including igniting ability, burning rate and Output flame temperature. In the experiments, the cylindrical pellets were packed into a heat-resisting quartz tube and were ignited by an electrical-heating wire. A high-speed video camera and a digital-image processing device were used simultaneously for recording of their Combustion phenomena such as ignition and flame propagation. In addition, the Output flame temperature was detected by placing a thermocouple at the end of the quartz tube. The influence of each ingredient of the formula oil the reaction characteristics and the burning properties were analyzed from the experimental results. The consequences of these analyses will contribute to the evaluation of applied feasibility and limiting factors of these two type alloy delay compositions in the self-destruction mechanism module of fuse. Crown Copyright (C) 2009 The Combustion Institute. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.