Systematic study of the explosive chemical kinetics of derivatives of ETN and PETN at low pressure

Abstract

The delay times prior to the thermal runaway of the explosives erythritol tetranitrate (ETN), erythritol tetraazide (ETA), pentaerythritol tetranitrate (PETN), cyclotrimethylene trinitramine (RDX), and cyclotetramethylene tetranitramine (HMX) have been obtained using molecular dynamics simulations with a semi-empirical model for the interatomic forces. We find that the mean delay times for each of the explosives follow Arrhenius chemical kinetics despite the complexity of the underlying chemical reactions. The temperatures required for these explosives to transition to thermal runaway appears to be correlated with their impact sensitivities, in accord with observations of Wenograd in the early 1960s.