A complete understanding of the mechanisms by which high explosives (HEs) are shock initiated, especially at the particle scale, is still in demand. One approach to explain shock initiation phenomenon is hot spot theory, which suggests that distributed energy in energetic material is localized due to shock or impact to generate the high temperatures for ignition. This study focuses on the impact response of a HE polycrystalline particle, specifically HMX, in a polymer matrix. This represents a simplified analog of a traditional polymer‐bonded explosive (PBX) formulation. A light gas gun, together with high‐speed x‐ray phase contrast imaging (PCI), was used to study the impact response of a single particle of production‐grade HMX in a Sylgard‐184® matrix. The high‐speed x‐ray PCI allows for real‐time visualization of HE particle behavior. The experiments revealed that, at impact velocities of ∼200 m s−1, the energetic particle was cracked and crushed. When the impact velocity was increased to 445 m s−1, a significant volume expansion of the particle was observed. This volume expansion is considered to be the result of chemical reaction within the HE particle.
The initiation of high explosives (HEs) under shock loading lacks a comprehensive understanding: particularly at the particle scale. One common explanation is the hot spot theory, which suggests that energy in the material resulting from the impact event is localized in a small area causing an increase in temperature that can lead to ignition. This study focuses on the response of HMX particles (a common HE) within a polymer matrix (Sylgard‐184®), a simplified example of a polymer‐bound explosive (PBX). These PBXs consist of multiple HMX particles in a single polymer‐bound sample. A light gas gun was used to load the samples at impact velocities above 400 m/s. The impact events were visualized using X‐ray phase‐contrast imaging (PCI) allowing real‐time observation of the impact event. The experiment used two different types of samples (multi‐particle and two crystals) and found evidence of cracking and debonding in both sample types. In addition, it was found that the multiple particle samples showed similar evidence of damage at lower velocities than that of single particle samples. This is an expected result as the multiple particles add additional interfaces for stress concentration and frictional heating.
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