Samples of triaminotrinitrobenzene (TATB), a well-known explosive, were taken to the brink of ignition by either underwater shock or impact and were investigated for the generation of hot spots. SEM was used for detecting, locating, and measuring the size of the hot spot remnants. These were found to be tiny ragged holes in the explosive with a fine deposit of debris near them. By use of XPS, a specially surface-sensitive technique, it was found that the debris consisted of furoxan and furazan derivatives of TATB produced from its decomposition. The furoxans are far more sensitive than TATB and constitute sensitization centers where reaction can easily restart during handling of the explosive. The hot spot sites were of micron size for the impacted samples and an order of magnitude smaller for the underwater-shocked samples.

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Plane shock-wave compressions and an optical method were used to obtain the unreacted equations of state of 11 explosives and propellants for pressures up to 90 kbar. Measurements of the transit times of weak shock waves (∼100 bar) yielded longitudinal sound-wave velocities.

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