 General Introduction: A detonation is a shock

wave with a rapid chemical reaction occurring

just behind the shock front .Looking at the
detonation process, there are some general
phenomena that seem to apply to all
explosives.
 The propagation wave velocity is greater than the
speed of sound of the unreacted material into which
the wave is traveling .
 The wave velocity is constant in any given specimen
of explosive .
 The wave velocity is proportional to the density of
the explosive material .
 The wave velocity is lower in smaller diameter
specimens of the same explosive material and
propagation completely falls below some minimum
critical diameter.
 It is also noticed that the diameter above which wave
speed no longer increases is different for each
explosive.
 Based on above observations, detonation
phenomena can be divided into two broader
categories:
• Ideal Detonation :Where the cross section of explosive is
large enough to have no diameter effect
• Non Ideal Detonation: Where the dimension of the charge
affects the characteristics of detonation
• For most of the common military explosives the diameter
is quite small from a mm to a few tens of mm
• For commercial explosives, the diameter may be in the
range of several centimeters
• For blasting agents ,it may be a meter or more
 A simple theory to describe ideal detonation was developed by Zeldovich ,Von
Neumann and Deering independently in the early 1940s, and is called ZND
Model .This model is based on the following assumptions:
 The flow /wave is one dimensional which is the same as the uniaxial assumption
used when dealing with nonreactive shock waves .This implies that wave front is
planner and has no lateral (on sides) boundaries and the wave is traveling in a
direction normal to the wave front.
 The front of the wave is a jump discontinuity/the wave front is discontinuious. It,
therefore, is handled as the jump discontinuity in simple nonreactive shock waves.
 The reaction –product gases leaving the detonation front are in chemical and
thermodynamic equilibrium and the chemical reaction is completed
 The detonation process is steady state ,the wave velocity is constant and the
products leaving the e detonation front are at the same state (chemical) regardless
of the position of the wave in distance or time.
 The gaseous reaction products ,after leaving the detonation front, may be time
dependent and are affected by the surrounding system or boundary conditions
 In view of constraints placed by above assumptions:
 The detonation is seen as a shock wave moving through an explosive
 the shock front compresses and heats the explosive which initiates
chemical reaction
 The exothermic reaction is completed instantly
 The energy liberated by the reaction feeds the shock front and drives it
forward
 Simultaneously, the gaseous products behind this shock wave are
expanding, a rarefaction moves forward into the shock
 The shock front, chemical reaction and the leading edge of the rarefaction
are all in equilibrium and are all moving at the same speed called
detonation velocity/velocity of detonation (VOD), D.
 This implies that the front of the shock does not change shape (pressure
remains constant) with time and the detonation velocity does not change
with time.
 The jump condition from the unreacted
explosive to the shock compressed reaction
product gases is depicted in the pressure –
specific volume (P-V)plane in the figure
It can be seen from the figure that:
 Wave deals with two materials in a detonation jump condition the unreacted
explosives and the completely reacted gaseous detonation products
 We are jumping from one physical state to another as well to a new chemical state
 The initial state at A in the figure is for the unreated explosive
 The state at C relates to the jump condition to the fully shocked but yet unreacted
explosive
 On another Hugoniot (an empirical relationship) describing a curve an P-V plot
which connects states that can be attained by a shock transition the state B
represents the detonation reactions products
 The state of the reaction products is at the point where the Raleigh line (a straight
line connecting the initial and the final shock states on a P-V plane)is tangent to
the Hugoniot of the detonation reaction products
 The chapman – Jouguet state is at the point where the Raleigh line is tangent to
the Hugoniot of the detonation-reaction products .The two scientists
independently made this observation at the beginning of the 20th century,
 If the jump conditions were such that the
Rayleigh line intersected the products
Hugoniat at a slope greater than that of
tangent, then two states would be possible for
the products, are at each of the two points
where the Hugoniot is intersected by the
dashed line in the figure
 The slope of the Hugoniot curve at any point is
U2/v2;comparing slopes on this plane is therefore
effectively comparing velocities.
 The slope of the Hugoniat curve of the the
detonation reaction products at state D in the figure
is greater than the slope of the reaction zone and
rarefaction would be overtaking the shock front thus
violating the statement that these are all at the same
velocity .So this state is not in equilibrium and
therefore not permissible under original constraints
 At point (E)in figure ,the slope of the Hugniot and
hence the rarefaction wave velocity is lower than
that of Raleigh line ,therefore ,rare faction would be
slower than the detonation front ,making the
reaction zone continuously spread out in time. This
state is not in equilibrium and therefore is not
permissible according to the constraints
 The net result of above disscussion is that the only place on
the Hugonat of the products where the slope of the Hugoniat
equals the slope of the Raleigh line (and therefore the
reaction zone ,rarefaction front and shock Front are all at the
same velocity is at the tangent point, the C-J state .The CJ
point is the at the state of products behind the detonation
front
 The point C, the Rayleigh line interrelation with the Hugoniot
of the unreacted explosive is called the Von Neumann spike
and is the shock state that initiates reaction. For the purpose
of the simple model presented the Von Neumann spike is
ignored and the reaction zone thickness is assumed to the
zero. The reaction is so fast that energy involved in this
phenomena spike is negligible compared to the energy in fully
reacted products
 The rarefaction wave which brings the
products gases from the C-J state to the fully
expanded state at ambient pressure is called
Taylor wave. Its profile is shown in the figure.
Taylor ware is manifested in three profiles as shown in the figure
 If the explosive has heavy rear and / or side confirement , the
gases cannot expand as freely as unconfined gases, thus the
taylor ware is higher and longer than if the explosive was not
confined
 when the explosive is very thick (along the detonation axis),
the Taylor wave is higher
 when the explosive is very thin in the direction of the
detonation and there is little rear or side confinement, the
taylor wave is lower.
The actual shape of the Taylor wave is determined by a
combination of factors including expansion of the detonation
gasses, the charge size and the degree of confinement
 Before doing any design calculation ,it is
imperative to find or estimate the parameter
values at CJ state i.e PCJ,D ,uCJ and rhoCJ, where
:PCJ is the detonation or CJpressure,D is
detonation velocity,UCJ ,particle velocity at
the CJ state & rhoCJ is the density at the CJ
state.
 An abundance of CJ –state data is available but
seldom at densities of interest to us. Further much of
this data is either calculated or estimated and it is
not known how accurate these methods are.
 It is, therefore ,important to have some real data
.Fortunately experimental data for a larger number
of explosives and explosive mixtures are available
.These data were measured for rhoo&” rhocj (density
at initial and cj states), D, VOD and Pcj(Detonation or
CJ Pressure)parameters of explosives and explosives
mixture in the same experiment for each set of
data .These data are tabulated for a few
representative explosive /explosive mixtures as.
Table
 The initial density versus the density at the CJ
state for all the explosives, where CJ
parameters have been determined
experimentally , can be plotted on a graph
and it is found that the data fit a straight line
on a log plot as shown in the figure
 The equation of this line is :
 rhoCJ=1.386rhoo 0.96
 The equation for estimating this parameter is :
 Rho cj=(4/3)rhoo
 When the estimated equation is plotted on
the experimental graph, a close relationship is
observed but it underestimates rhocj at lower
densities.
 The mass and momentum equations for the
jump from unreacted explosive to the CJ state
are:
 This equation , knowing only rhoo and D for
any explosive at any density ,estimates PCJ
with in 5% of the experimentally measured
values .This is slightly better than estimate
from computer codes which agree with
experimental data with in 7 to 9%.
 It is needed to know the properties of
detonation reaction products at the shock
states when an explosive detonates in contact
with another material. This is similar to the
shock wave interactions between inert
materials.
 We know the momentum equation:
P=rhoouU
 This equation contains an interesting factor rho U.
o
This product is called the shock impedance and is
designed by Z
Z=rhooU where:
 Rho is constant while U is not .The shock impedance
o
increases with pressure, increases rather slowly and
can be considered to be “somewhat constant”. It is
constant enough to let us differentiate between the
low-impedance material and a high impedance
material.
 If the adjacent material has a shock impedance greater than that
of the detonation reaction products at the C-J state, then the
resulting pressure at the interface will be greater than the CJ
pressure
 If the adjacent material has a shock impedance lower than that of
the detonation reaction products at the C-J state, then the
resulting pressure at the interface will be lower than the CJ
pressure
 The estimation of this Hugoniot can be done by computer codes
which are not available to most engineers nor are the large
computers that are required to run them.
 Experiments can be conducted for a given explosive with a
variety of targets ranging from low-to high –target shock
impedance and thus the Hugoniot of the detonation reaction
products can be constructed
 One such Hugoniot is shown in the figure for a plastic bonded
explosive consisting of TATB and a binder.
 The target material used in these experiments were
copper, aluminum ,magnesium ,transacryl (a
polymer), water, and argon gas at various initial
pressures ranging from
5 to 705 bar.
 This Hugoniot shown in the figure is similar to those
for the detonation products Hugoniots spreads
across the Jone plots for TNT ,comp B etc
 Just as with shock waves (non reacting ).the
detonation is a jump process and is handled the
same as shock wave are on the P-u plane
 The detonation jump condition from the state of an
unreacted explosive to the CJ-state is a straight line
joining these two states .The difference here is that
state zero is the solid HE and the CJ state is on the
product Hugoniot.
 The initial unreacted state, if we assume U =0 is at
o
the P=0,u =0 origin on the P-u plane.
Figure below shows the detonation jump condition.
 While the slope of the jump line for nonreative
shocks was rhooU, the slope of the jump line for
detonation is rhooD.
 The major interaction of interest with explosive is
the case where an explosive is in contact with
another material and the detonation wave interacts
at that interface .
 In an analogy to nonreactive shock ,it is imperative
to known the relative shock impendence of the
material and the explosive reaction products .The
shock impedance of the products is Zdet=rhooD
This case pertains to a detonation causing a
shock into an adjoined material where
impedance is higher than that of the
detonation products at the CJ state .The
figure below shows the P-x diagram for this
interaction.
 The interaction shown ,in the in figure
produces a shock pressure in material B
greater than the CJ pressure of the explosive
due to a right going shock wave in material B
coming from P=0,u=0 & a left –going shock
wave back into the detonation product gases
coming from PCJ, uCj
Example
Example:

S=1.481
 So far ,we have examined ideal detonation .It
is imperative to explore the phenomena that
exists outside the constraints imposed for the
study of ideal detonation .These
phenomena ,the effects of physical
dimensions and temperature are very
complex ,therefore ,the same shall be treated
at the empirical level.
 In the simple model of detonation ,the reaction zone length was considered
zero but in reality this is not the case .
 The figure shown an idealized detonation wave whose structure and size of
reaction zone are indicated
 Although finite ,the length of reaction zone is tiny compared to that of a Taylor
wave.
 As shown in the next figure ,the reaction zone length appears to increase with
decreasing density
 Further ,it is also observed to decrease with increasing initial ambient
temperature of the explosive
 Reaction –zone length ,cannot conveniently be measured directly .Their
dimensions are deduced from their effects on other parameters
 Length vary from as little as a hundredth of a millimeter for some high –density
high explosives up to several centimeters for same blasting agents
 Reaction –zone length has its importance for being the major parameter
controlling detonation velocity in the non ideal detonation region
 On detonating a cylindrical column of explosive, change in VOD is
observed with the change of diameters of the column.
 The velocity decreases as the as the diameter of the column
decreases .This effect is caused by is caused by energy losses to the site
of the column .
 When the column diameters is large, the losses are small relative to
the energy production at the wave front
 When the column diameters is small ,the energy losses are larger
relative to the energy generated at the wave front.
 The decrease in the velocity continues until a diameter
is reached where the energy losses are so great relative to the energy
production that detonation fails to propagate at all.
 Measurements to study this effect can be made on long cylinder (sticks) of explosive of
different diameters by detonating them from one end
 The measurements can be made by any one of several techniques including ultra high
speed photography, Transient recorders or fiber optics methods
 A table gives typical data for compB .The experiment for this purpose being rather
expensive and time consuming ,limited amount aredata are available for explosives. The
data given in the table are presented in graphical form is the Rigme. this presentation does
not tell us anything about the selective effect in a particular explosive or among different
explosives
 The detonation velocity, however asymptotically approaches a constant value as the
diameter become larges and larger .
 In case the same data are plotted in the form of detonation velocity verses reciprocal
diameter, 1/d, it is seen that the relation become linear in 1/d as diameter increases (as 1/d
approaches zero). this behavior is shown in the figure below:
 when linear portion of the relationship is extra polated to 1/d=0 we find the value of the
detonation velocity for an infinite diameter charge.
 This velocity is called the ideal detonation velocity or the infinite diameter detonation
velocity desiganated as either Di or Dos
 when the save data are plotted in reduced terms in the form of D/Di against 1/d as in the
flow in figure , the linear portion of this relationship is expressed as:
D = 1- a 1
Di d
 The term a the slope of the linear portion, a constant, is different of or different explosives
and is different for same explosive at different initial conditions, including density,
temperature, particale size etc,
 The constant ‘a’ appears to be proportional to section zone length.
 the following table gives data for several different explosives as wall as for several densities
of one explosive, cyclotol (60/x0)
 The effect of confinement to
an explosive charge ,such as
housing the charge column in
a metal sleeve, helps to
increases the detonation
velocity or bring it closer to
ideal performance .For
explosives pressed into steel
sleeves ,the following
relationship holds
 We/Wc is the weight ratio of
explosive to casing per unit
length .Data supporting the
relationship are represented
into following
 The result of these two examples
demonstrate that all other things being equal
the confinement of the explosive tube like in
metal sleeve instead of paper has increased its
VOD from 5.2 Km/s to 6.14km/s
Side losses become so dominant with decreasing diameter that
a point is reached where steady state detonation cannot be
maintained .At this point detonation fails; it either suddenly
slows down to below the sound speed in the unreacted
explosive or stops altogether .
 This point is called the failure diameter, D , it is also called the
f
critical diameter, Dcrit.
 Failure diameter is strongly affected by confinement, particle
size, initial density and ambient temperature of the unreacted
explosive
 Failure diameter can be roughly correlated to the velocity –
diameter constant ‘a’ as shown in the figure(21.7)
 This effect is exhibited in the following
figure(21.8). It is seen that increasing the
initial or ambient temperature decreases Df.
 This effect is true for all explosives.
The effect is demonstrated in the next two figures”(21.9
&21.10).
 The effect of initial density on Df is not the same in all
explosives, nor at all densities
 For most single –component HEs such as RDX, HMX,TNT etc
the Df decreases with increasing density. This trend continues
until the maximum theoretical density (TMD) or crystal
density is approached.
 For those explosives in the group ,just discussed, that tend to
fuze at or near TMD, the Df suddenly jumps to a much higher
value. This phenomena is indicated in the first figure(21.9)
where a plot of Df versus rhoo for two different particle size
conditions of TNT is shown.
 Casting technique also affects Df .
 In this techniques that leads to a final material ,with a little or
no fine voids or pronounced grain boundaries ,yields the
highest Df for poured clear type
 Material having grains boundaries in the from of ‘creamed
and powder’ yield the lowest Df .
 A sudden charge in initiation mechanism, as affected by
porosity ,is perhaps responsible for the sudden charge in Df
 A second group of explosives, primarily those that contain
large amounts of AN and AP behave exactly the opposite in
respect to density .Hence ,Df increases with increasing
density .This trend is shown in figures(21.10 &21.11)
pertaining to the behavior of AN and AP for failure diameters.
 The trend of decreasing Df with decreasing particle size is
same for all explosives as seen in figure 21.10
 Fig 21.12 demonstrates an interesting result
for an explosive mixture of each group into
identical charges (TNT/AN:50/50).The effect
of density for the 2nd group
(TNT/AN:50/50).,where Df increases with
increasing density ,predominates the effect
in the low –density region. The effect of the
density of the first group (single molecule
like TNT,RDX,HMX etc), where Df decreases
with increasing density dominates in the
higher –density region.
 Similar to Df, but for plates or slabs of
explosive ,there is a failure thickness that can
be measured ,the experimental set up for this
shown in fig 21.13
 Experiments to determine failure thickness are run on
tapered explosive wedges initiated at the thicker end
 The tests are conducted using a brass witness plate to
indicate where failure occurred
 Since the brass affords heavy confinement on one side of the
explosive and steel bars confine the sides ,the failure
thickness is most likely less than that for an un -confined
explosive charge(AN:3.29mm,TNT:1.91mm,comp.B:.94mm&
PBX,(HMX based).61--------.41&(RDX based) .52-.30mm
 Such experimental data are important for the designer to sort
out reliability of detonation to minimize size and weight of
explosive charge..
 As seen in the case of ideal detonation ,both PcJ the
detonation pressure ,and D ,the detonation velocity
,are dependent upon the initial density of the
unreacted explosive .But if we plot D against rhoo for
some given explosive ,we should not expect to get a
straight line as exhibited in figure 21.14 for HBX(a
mixture of RDX ,TNT and aluminum)
 However ,for most explosives over reasonable ranges
of density ,D against rhoo graph is very close to linear
as seen in the figure 21.15 for PETN and TNT.
 Although it is wrong to assume the linear relationship
for all explosives ,however, with some very limited
data on D and rhoo condition for an explosive ,the
relationship can be assumed to be linear in order to
extrapolate the known D, rhoo condition.
 It is expected that on raising the initial temperature
of the explosive ,its D and P should also raise but the
opposite is observed .The reason for this is that in
raising the temperature ,the explosive is being
expanded thereby lowering its density .By lowering
density ,PcJ and D are also lowered.
 Typically, (ΔD/ΔT), the change in detonation velocity
per unit charge in temperature ,will be found to be in
the range from -o.4x10-3 to-4x10-3
(mm/us/oc)
 If a cylinder of explosive is initiated from the end by
placing a detonator on the center line ,it is expected
the detonation to grow out spherically from this point
and it does happen at first
 But after going some fixed distance the detonation
ceases to grow spherically and maintains a constant
radius of curvature at detonation front.
 In case the charge is made larger ,the point moves out
further but the ratio of radius of curvature to charge
diameter remains constant .The value of this ratio
changes from explosive to explosive depending
probably on reaction –zone length etc.
 Fig 21.16 demonstrate this effect for several explosives.
Here R is the radius of curvature of the front ,d is the
charge diameter and L is the charge length
 One of the manifestations of geometry effects is that the work done by the pressure at the
end of the charge is a function not only of the pressure etc but also of the L /d of the charge.

If S is defined as some work function like depth of dent in a witness plate ,degree of
crushing an adjacent material or ever properties of a jet in shaped charges ,then as L
increases so does S but only upto some maximum L

This L
is called L max ;beyond this, S remains constant no matter how long the charge is
made

L
At this max there is a corresponding value of S max or So
 A plote of S/So (the reduced work function) versus L/d (reduced or scaled length) depicts
that all there parameters do indecd scale (can be increased or decreased proportionately in
size). Figure 21.17 shows this effect.
 The inference drown from This graph is that S/So is approaching a constant for values of
L /d>2
 According to existing theories ,it is seen that all
methods of initiation are basically thermal in nature
.The following two major methods /modes of
initiation shall be examined during the course of
discussion :
It will be seen that initiation is entirely a thermal
phenomena.

The initiation of detonation :

Here in this case the thermal effects must be
coupled with hydrodynamic effects.
 On decomposition, explosives generate heat
that can accelerate the rate of decomposition
leading to a runway or thermal ignition condition.
This decomposition can be started merely by
allowing an explosive to be exposed to high
ambient temperatures or by generating heat
mechanically within the explosive i.e through
shock waves etc
 When an explosive slowly decomposes the reaction products are
not necessarily formed at maximum oxidation state. The various
nitro, nitrate ,nitamine etc groups in an explosive molecule can
slowly break down.
 This is due to low-temperature kinetics as well as the influence of
light ,infrared and ultraviolet radiation and any other mechanism
that can feed energy in to the molecule
 Upon decomposition products such as NO,NO2
N2,H2O,aldehydes,ketones ,acids etc are formed
 Large radicals of the parent explosive molecule are left and these
react with their neighbors
 As long as the explosive is at a temperature above absolute zero,
decomposition occurs,
 At lower temperature ,rate of decomposition is
infinitesimally small.
 As temperature increases ,the decomposition rate
increases
 Although the exact chemical mechanism in thermal
decomposition is seldom known ,we do know that most
explosives in the common use of temperatures
decompose at a zero –order reaction rate .This implies
that the rate of decomposition is usually independent of
the composition of ,or the presence of, the reaction
products
 The reaction rate can be determined experimentally by
holding the explosive at some constant temperature and
measuring its weight loss as a function of time .When
this is done ,it is found that the rate of weight loss
relative to the starting weight is a constant at constant
temperature .This is expressed as :
 This experiment can be repeated at a number of
different temperatures to obtain values of K at each
temperature.
 When log K is plotted against reciprocal temperature ,
1/T ,it is found that the data points from a straight line
as shown in figure22.1
 The equation of a straight line on this type .
 This equation is called the Arhenius equation and is
used for the determination of the activation energy
for a particular chemical reaction .The term Z is a
constant unique to that particular reaction and is
often called the ‘pre-exponential factor’
 With the progress of the decomposition reaction
,energy is produced in the from of heat .For a given
quantity of explosive, the faster the rate ,the
greater the rate of heat evolved.
 The combination of thermal chemical
characteristics of the reaction with the rate of
reaction yields an expression for the rate of energy
or heat produced ;
Q is the rate of heat evolved per unit volume ; , the density
and ΔH ,the heat of reaction ,
 The heat produced in this manner is transferred to the
surrounding explosive material. The heat transfer rate is
dependent upon :temperature, thermal conductivity ,heat
capacity and density
 One of the classical three dimensional heat transfer
equation is Frank Kamenetskii (FK) equation:
 This equation relates the rate of heat production to the rate of
temperature rise of the reacting material and its surroundings.
 In essence ,this equation states that if heat is evolved by the reaction
faster than it can be transferred away, then the temperature of the
reacting material must increases .Increasing temperature increases
the reaction rate and hence the heat production rate .
 Thus a situation is reached where if the heat transfer rate cannot
keep pace with the rate of heat produced ,then the temperature will
continue to rise at a greater and greater rate.
 At higher temperatures, the reaction results in the increase of ΔH
as well as the relative amount of gaseous products in higher
oxidation states.
 Convective heat transfer then also increases along with increasing
pressure and the result is an explosion.
 The heat transfer rate is also a function of the thickness of the
material through which it is being conducted which implies, the
thicker the material or longer the heat transfer path ,the lower the
heat transfer rate which means, that a large sample or charge of
explosive conducts internal heat away slower than a smaller one.
 Hence for a given size and shape of a given explosive material
,there must be some maximum initial temperature which if
exceeded ,will lead to a runaway reaction or explosion. The
temperature is called the ‘critical temperature’ TC
 The solution of FK equation for critical
temperature at the steady state conditions ,where
time approaches infinity ,furnishes the following
expressions.
 is the radius of a sphere ,cylinder or half thickness of
a slab in cm; , the density in g/cm3;ΔH,the heat of
decomposition reactions in cal/mole; Z, the pre-
exponential factor in per second; Ea, the activation
energy in cal/mole; Tc, critical temperature in K;R, the
universal gas constant (1.9872cal/mole K); , the
thermal conductivity in cal/cm sec K; and S ,the shape
factor ;0.88 for an infinite slab;2.00 for an infinite –
length cylinder ;3.32 for a sphere.
 This solution of FK equation represents the
condition where the rate of heat evolved exactly
equals the rate at which it is transferred away for a
given size and shape of an explosive charge .Any
increase in ambient temperature above Tc would
lead to runaway reaction or explosion with in a
finite time.
 Some Tc values for explosives are:
 Fig22.2 represents a plot of Tc versus radius of
several explosives
 Fig22.3 demonstrates the relationship of thermal
conductivity changes with density of TATB
 The relationship is linear
 Fig 22.4 shows the temperature dependence of
thermal conductivity for AP along with two
different compositions of HMX/viton .The slopes
of these plots are probably representative for
most explosives
 Explosives will be initiated under certain conditions if they are
subjected to impact ,
 Low –velocity impact has caused many accidental explosions,
therefore ,low ,velocity impact machines are employed to test
“sensitiveness” of explosives.
 The phenomena of impact or mechanical initiation is really
thermal in nature
 Bowden and yoffe first proposed this and postulated that any of
several mechanical mechanisms could produce heat at tiny local
areas and thus raise the local temperature to the ignition point of
an explosive.
 These tiny locally heated areas are referred “hot spots”
 Bowden etal proposed the following mechanism :
• adiabatic compression of air or vapour bubbles included in
the explosives.
• Intercrystalline friction.
• Friction of impacting surfaces.
• Plastic deformation of a sharply pointed impacting surface.
• Viscous heating of the impacted material as it flows past the
edges of impacted surfaces.
 Khoevo and Andreev indicated that the above said mechanisms
would not produce sufficiently high temperatures, therefore ,they
proposed microjetling in bubbles and particles interstices (small
voids/spaces) and /or in elastic (not rubber like) compression of the
solid particals was the major cause of the phenomenon.
 A better proposition by afanas’ev and Bobble states that the
inelastic flow of explosive under impact would produce the
required temperatures.
 The explosives (being )particulates .Local anisotropic behavior can
create localized high shear streses where the solids in that area
can suddenly break down in to plastic flow relative to the
surrounding solid particles
 Flow in these local ‘shear bands’ converts the quansistatic stress
on the entire bed into heat by various effects.
 Temperature in these areas is not limited by the normal melting
point of the explosive becomes these local areas are at high stress
or pressure and, therefore the melting point is raised
 Tm is the melting point; Tom, the normal melting
point at 1 atm; ‫ۇ‬α, the melting point pressure
coefficient (for most CHNO explosive , α, is
approximately .02oC/atm);and P ,the pressure
 It is imperative to define a critical temperature Tc,
similar to Tc, which is canceled for times less than
10-5 s being the ignition delay such that:
 The above relationship implies the higher the local
pressure, the higher the local melting point and
lower the critical stress to produce ignition
 Based on impact machine experiments it is found
that for most explosives Tc’ are between 400 and
600oC and the critical diameter of a ‘hot spot’ is
between 10-5 and 10-3 cm
 In detonation the decomposition reaction is
completed at shock velocities in the explosive. The
initiation of chemical reaction in detonation is
similar to the low velocity impact. In this case the
shock front compresses the unreacted explosive
material causing local shear failure and inelastic
flow .These process create ‘hot spots’ that grow
in to complete reaction. The difference in the case
of detonation is that the ensuring (happening after
wards)is completed at a much higher rate.
When an explosive is shocked with a square
wave pulse shock wave ,the the shock has an
amplitude P, the shock pressure ,and a
duration t ,the shock front is u .Hence , the
rate at which work is done ,per unit area ,on
the explosive compresses by the shock is:
 The table 22.3(couper)gives Ec for the explosives
under discussion=15.0cal/cm2 which means that
this explosive will definitely detonate
 Although critical energy fluence is a necessary condition for
shock initiation of detonation, by itself it does not describe
the whole process
 When shocked ,an explosive does not instantly attain full
steady –state detonation The shock must travel some finite
distance into the explosive before achieving steady-state
detonation
 This “run distance” is not a constant but various with the
peak input shock pressure data are approximately straight
lines and are known as Pop. plots after al fonse popalents.
 A very thin flyer plate forms a short or ‘thin’pressure pulse
 The pulse duration or width of the shock wave formed at
impact is dependent upon flyer thickness and material as
well as upon target explosive.
 The pulse width is determined by the time it to be the
impact shock in flyer to reach the flyer’srear, unconfined
,free surface and for ensuring rarefaction wave to return to
the flyer –explosive interface.
 The shock maintain constant peak pressure upto the
distance ‘X’ as shown in 22.6
 If this distance ‘X’ is less than the run distance from pop-
plot data then the run distance from ‘pop-pube’ condition
 In case the pulse is very Thin and x is much shorter than the
run distance ,the explosive will not detonate.
 Putting the above values in the equation for Xf we
get Xf=2.68 mm
 These example illustrate that while designing
explosive interfaces that utilize gaps and flyers to
transfer detonation, the aforesaid conditions must
be taken in to account
 Besides critical fluence and pulse duration and magnitude
conditions for shock initiation of detonation ,it is
imperative to consider an additional parameter i.e impact
shock parameter
 As it is observed that the rarefaction traveling axially in to
the rear of the shock pulse in an explosive can attenuates
the peak shock pulse in an explosive can attenuates the
peak shock pressure and there by cause longer than ideal
run distance or even cause failure rare factions traveling
radially into the sides or edges of the impact shock wave
can do the same.
 In fig 22.7 a flyer impacting a slub of explosives is shown
such that the shock wave generated at impact travels
forward axially in to the explosive .
 The edges of the shock are at ambient pressure ,hence a
rarefaction forms at the edge and propagates radially
inward ,relering the shock pressure from the sides.
 In this manner ,the shock is whittled (like cutting wood
into small pieces by cutting small pieces )from the edges
forming a come shaped zone that defines the only
location where the initial impact shock pressure can
enclose
 The base angle of the cone is that ratio of the radial
rarefaction to the velocity is greater than the shock
velocity ,therefore ,the base angle must be less than 45o
 If the apex distance of this cone is less than the run
distance ,then the actual run distance will be grater than
the ideal
 In case the apex distance is small (close to half) ,the
explosive will fail to detonate
 For design purposes to achieve sure detonation flyer
diameter should always be equal to or greater than twice
the run distance.
 The net result of above discussion is that for good design
work to achieve sure detonation:
 Cone angle is approximately 45 at the base
 Required run distance is equal to or less than the constant –
pressure come height
 The base or diameter is at least twice the height
 Chemistry of all process is the same
 ordinary burning and deflagration can be initiated
thermally
 Explosion takes place in case deflagration is confined i.e it
is deflagration under confinement
 Direct detonation is initiated by a shock
 Deflagration to detonation takes place if conditions
necessary to achieve DDT are present .These conditions
are:
confinement ,particle size ,partial surfaces area ,packing
density, charge diameter and length ,heat transfer and
thermo chemical characteristics of the particular explosive
 If the aforesaid conditions are fulfilled then deflagration
turns into detonation otherwise explosion takes place.
 If the aforesaid conditions are fulfilled then deflation turns
into detonation otherwise explosion takes place.
 DDT is utilized intentionally in the design certain
detonators where primary explosives cannot be used.
 Combustion

Ordinary Burning Explosion

Deflagration Detonation
Rate (slow) (very fast)
(Fast) cm/s (supersonic)
<mm/s m/s

Deflagration to
Direct
DetonationCDDT