Shock sensitivity of pressed RDX-based plastic bonded explosives under short-duration and high-pressure impact tests

Abstract

The shock sensitivities of plastic bonded explosives were studied with a thin flyer impact test by using two types of pressed RDX. The thin flyer, driven by an electrically exploding plasma, exerts a short-duration, high-pressure pulse to the samples to trigger a shock-to-detonation process. It was found that the duration and magnitude of the incident shock strongly influence the dominant mode of hot-spot formation, promoting a fast pore collapsing mechanism while suppressing other slower shear or friction mechanisms, as proposed by Chakravarty et al. [1]. The pressed PBX based on reduced sensitivity RDX had higher shock threshold pressure, compared to the pressed PBX based on commercial RDX. The difference was observed even with a certain portion of external extragranular defects. It is postulated that the internal crystal defects are more efficient than the external porosity in terms of the rapid reaction of hot spots. Copyright © 2013 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.