Study of energy dissipation mechanisms and hotspot formation patterns during impact process in octogen explosives with circular cavities

Abstract

Considerable focus has been given to hotspot generation and ignition phenomena in impact-induced explosives. Hotspot formation in explosives is typically attributed to internal dissipation and heat transfer occurring within them. This study refines the momentum and energy equations to illustrate the entire process of particle collision, temperature-rise evolution, and hotspot formation in octogen explosive bed under impact. By octogen, we mean the substance known as cyclotetramethylene tetranitramine, which is also commonly referred to as HMX. Dense particles are considered to have pseudo-fluid properties. During the impact of the explosive, we captured the propagation of the stress wave and compared its similarities and differences with the shock wave. The collision force model incorporates a combination of Hertz–Mindlin elastic and Thornton elastoplastic contact theories. The temperature-governing equation includes sliding friction, rolling resistance, and plastic dissipations as energy sources, taking into account the heat transfer processes between particles. Temperature evolution is a spatiotemporally correlated phenomenon divided into three processes: high-temperature bands formation, cavity collapse, and particle bed dispersion, all of which lead to hotspot formation near the cavity and near the wall. Plastic dissipation is the primary source for particle temperature-rise and hotspot formation. Furthermore, the effect of cavity size, impact velocity, and particle size on temperature evolution and hotspot formation patterns is analyzed. It was found that higher impact velocities and smaller cavity sizes are associated with increased hotspot temperatures near the wall, but the hotspot temperature near the cavity does not consistently vary with impact velocity and cavity size. This is attributed to the relationship between energy dissipation rate and void collapse time.