AbstractIn the study of the initiation of solid, polycrystalline explosives by short-duration (thin) shock waves, several investigators have found that the relationship between initial pressure (P) and shock duration (τ) can be described with the equation P2τ = const. Different mechanisms have been proposed to explain this relationship. However, the possibility that the relationship arises from the hydrodynamics of the overtake of the shock wave by a rarefaction from the rear has not been considered. I have investigated five simple models, three analytic and two numerical models, to examine the relationship between the entry time of the rarefaction and the time of its overtaking the initiating shock wave in a solid explosive. The purpose of this study is not to define a new quantitative model, but is to explore what effects changes in the wave profile and sustained-shock parameters have on the interaction of the rarefaction and the shock front. One of the analytic models fits the experimental data for the explosive PBX 9404 exceptionally well, but the very simplicity of the analytic model argues that transit time data on fixed-length samples are not sufficient to verify a proposed model for the initiation of solid explosives by thin shock waves. The analytic models show, in a simple manner, how the sustained-shock initiation parameters can influence the thin-shock initiation. The two numerical models, neither of which are intended to model reality, could be forced to fit the experimental sustained- and thin-shock data. They also illustrate some of the additional data that will be required before a realistic model can be developed. Given a more realistic model for the hydrodynamic conditions behind the shock front, this study indicates that a model based on rarefaction overtake is apparently adequate to describe thin-shock initiation.
Short-duration shock-wave initiation of solid explosives
Acta Astronautica ; 6 , 5-6 ; 771-783
1978-08-09
13 pages
Article (Journal)
Electronic Resource
English
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