Modeling the effects of aluminum and ammonium perchlorate addition on the detonation of the high explosives C4H8O8N8 (HMX) and C3H6O6N6 (RDX)

Abstract

Metalized high explosives effectively tailor the explosion impulse at lowered detonation pressures of common high performance explosives such as C3H6O6N6 (RDX) and C4H8O8N8 (HMX). The presence of aluminum (Al) with and without ammonium perchlorate (AP) allows the subsequent burning for longer and sustained reactions of enhanced blast explosives. The modeling of reaction rate laws for three explosives with varied amounts of Al, AP, RDX, and HMX is reported. The model validation included the rate stick test for understanding the explosive reaction of the three samples and the large-scale gap test for determining their ignition sensitivity. The experimental results confirmed the accuracy of the model in simulating the shock sensitivity and the size effects before detonation failure. The effect of enhanced blast of these explosives in the presence of Al and AP is also reported.