SHOCK INDUCED SYMPATHETIC DETONATION IN SOLID EXPLOSIVE CHARGES
Abstract
A study of the basic physical parameters for sympathetic initiation of high explosive receptor charges by the pressure pulse from a donor charge transmitted through barriers of air, steel, aluminum, lead, and copper was conducted. A surface phenomenon, which was shown to be a front of mechanical discontinuity supported by a chemically reacting core, was observed to propagate at a constant, supersonic velocity. The core reaction is a 'low-order' chemical decomposition which produces a pressure considerably less than that associated with high-order detonation, and propagates at a supersonic rate, but much slower than a high-order detonation. This reaction is confined to the central core of the explosive, and its rate of propagation is determined by the intensity of the incident wave. The propagation distances into the receptor and times required for the reaction to change abruptly to high-order detonation are uniquely determined, for a given explosive, by the intensity of the incident pressure wave. High-order detonation is first observed at the surface of the charge coincident to the front of the mechanical discontinuity. However, the shape of that front, on emergence, indicates that initiation originated in the reacting core.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jun 01, 1961
- Accession Number
- AD0637251
Entities
People
- John Paszek
- Morton Sultanoff
- Vincent M. Boyle
Organizations
- Ballistic Research Laboratory