Experimentally interrogating the chemistry and physics of plastic-bonded explosives (PBXs) requires detection techniques which span multiple time and length scales (fs-µs, nm-µm). We aim to better understand the underlying, microstructure-induced sensitivity of PBXs by, 1) conducting tabletop experiments on individual explosive crystals to elucidate hot spot dynamics and temperature, and 2) comparing results to microstructurally informed, reactive simulations. We have developed a tabletop apparatus which employs laser-driven impactors to impart initiating shocks to the explosive sample. Multiple optical and spectroscopic probes are coupled to the apparatus which image explosive emission with μm spatial resolution and resolve hot spot temperatures down to several ns. The explosive samples consisted 1,3,5,7-tetranitro-1,3,5,7-tetrazoctane single crystals embedded in multiple transparent polymers and shocked at several input pressures. Simulations were conducted using conducted using interface-resolved reactive simulations using a sharp-interface Eulerian framework. This new methodology provides the means to evaluate the influence of microstructural energy localization and predict mesoscale behavior of PBXs.

Observing the dynamics of hot spots in an ideal plastic-bonded explosive

ACS Spring Meeting 2021

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.