Alternate methodologies to experimentally investigate shock initiation properties of explosives

Abstract

Abstract. Reactive flow models are desired for new explosive formulations early in the development stage. Traditionally, these models are parameterized by carefully-controlled 1-D shock experiments, including gas-gun testing with embedded gauges and wedge testing with explosive plane wave lenses (PWL). These experiments are easy to interpret due to their 1-D nature, but are expensive to perform and cannot be performed at all explosive test facilities. This work investigates alternative methods to probe shock-initiation behavior of new explosives using widely-available pentolite gap test donors and simple time-of-arrival type diagnostics. These experiments can be performed at a low cost at most explosives testing facilities. This allows experimental data to parameterize reactive flow models to be collected much earlier in the development of an explosive formulation. However, the fundamentally 2-D nature of these tests may increase the modeling burden in parameterizing these models and reduce general applicability. Several variations of the so-called modified gap test were investigated and evaluated for suitability as an alternative to established 1-D gas gun and PWL techniques. At least partial agreement with 1-D test methods was observed for the explosives tested, and future work is planned to scope the applicability and limitations of these experimental techniques.

An Experimental Investigation of Corner‐Turning Performance in a Large Double Cylinder of Highly‐Insensitive Explosive

“…A recent effort funded by the Joint Fuze Technology Program (JFTP) focused on experimentally characterizing IMX-104 to develop an ignition and growth reactive flow model used to predict shock initiation and detonation performance. Over the last decade, much of the empirical data needed to parameterize this model has been collected at the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command Armaments Center (CCDC-AC) [3][4][5][6], the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) [2,7], and the Sandia National Laboratory (SNL) [8] -measurements of diameter effects on detonation velocity, failure diameter, detonation pressure, and run-to-detonation distances represent just a few of the more influential characterizations. Missing from the amassed data, however, was an assessment of IMX-104's corner-turning ability.…”