The increased shock sensitivity of PBX 9502 at high temperature

Abstract

A modified gap test using brass attenuators has been designed that can significantly heat explosive samples prior to testing. The sensitivity of PBX 9502 when heated to 180, 200, 230 & 260°C and soaked for 30 minutes was investigated. It was discovered that under the moderate confinement (0.46 MPa) of this test, the sensitivity of the material did increase close to literature data for LX-17 (a very similar composition) heated to 250°C under numerically unquantified 'heavy confinement'.