Detonations in solids

P5. Class of Permitted Explosives particularly for firing with short delay detonators in solid coal. 

Tranter, Nature 162, 335(1948) 174, 81 (1954) (Low-order detonation in solid expls. Influence of surface chilling on the deton behavior of cast TNT) H) H. Jones, PrRoySoc 204A, 9-12(1950) (Theoretical considerations of the deton of solid expls)... 

I) O.A. Gurton, PrRoySoc 204A, 31-2(1950) (Fading of deton in solid expls) J) A. LeRoux, MP 33, 283-321(1951) (Deton of solid expls by impact with solid shots at high velocities) K) M.A. Cook et al, "Reaction Kinetics and Thermo-Hydrodynamics of 80/20 Tritonal , Univ of Utah, Tech Rept XXIX(1954), Contract N7-onr-45107 (Conf) (Not used by us) L) M.A. Cook, JPhysChem 58, 1114(1954) (A study of the equation of state for EDNA) M) H. Sudo, JlndExplsSocJapan 15, 277-81(1954) (Photographic study of deton of solid expls)... 

Transition from Deflagration to Detonation in Solids , 3rdONRSympDeton(I960), pp 606-34 15) S. Wachtell C.E. McKnight,... 

Andreev Belyaev (i960), 365-67 (Calcn and exptl detn of distances "safe to deton by influence thru air) 25) M. Sultanoff et al, "Shock Induced Sympathetic Detonations in Solid Explosives , pp 520-32 in Vol 2 of the 3rdONRSympDeton (I960)... 

Refs 1) W.A. Taylor A. Weale, PrRoySoc 138A, 92-116(1932) (Mechanism of initiation and propagation of detonation in solid explosives) la) E. Burlot, CR 197, 1223-25 (1933) CA 28, 2538 (]934) (Ignition of explosives in vacuo) lb) A.F. Belyaev, DoklAkadN 18, 267 (1938) (Origination of detonation in explosives under the action of a thermal impulse) 2) A.F. Belyaev et al, KhimReferatZh 1940, No 10-11 CA 37, 1270(1943) (Investigation of initiation of small quantities of expls by heat with an impulse lasting for 10 3-10 secs, showed that the more volatile the expl, the harder... 

SocJ 30, 151-58(1960) (Recent advances in condensed media detonation) 37b) Dunkle s Syllabus (1960-1961), pp 4a 4b (Initiation of shock waves) lOa-lOg (Initiation of deflgrn and deton) p 12a (Frank-Kamenet-skii formulation) p 13b (Initiation by electric discharge) p 13f (Thermal Decomposition and Initiation of Explosives, as discussed by B. Reitzner) pp 17a to 17e (Mechanism of initiation and propagation of detonation in solid explosives) pp 17e 17f [Marlow Skidmore (Ref 31) concluded from their investigations that the problem of shock initiation is somehow related to the temperature distribution in the shock pulse and its effect on the chemical reaction rate. They used an Arrhenius type relationship for the rate increase in the frac-... 

An unusual "critical density phenomenon is encountered with AN/fuel expls. This has been attributed by Gordon to diffusion-limited reaction. This case is reviewed, and the implications concerning the question of detonability in solid composite proplnts are examined... 

Accdg to the paper of 1962 by Macek (Ref 14) "The shift of attention to the problem of transition to detonation in solid explosives, about a decade ago, was occasioned by the awareness that the problem may be pertinent to the proper functioning of large rocket propellant grains, and was given additional impetus by the scientific approach to shock initiation. From initial qualitative suggestions of Kistiakowsky (Refs 4 6) and Ubbelohde (Ref 5) there developed the hypothesis of precursor shock, which postulates a sequence of events rather analo-... 

Fig 4 One-dimensional precursor shock mechanism of transition from deflagration to detonation in solids... 

Warner, "Whitham s Shock-Wave Approximation Applied to the Initiation of Detonation in Solid Explosives , lOthSympCombstn (1965), pp 845-53 72) L.P. Orlenko ... 

Sessions 1-8 (Shock waves) Sessions 9-H (Development of deton from deflagration) Sessions 12-13 (Stability and sensitivity of expls) Sessions 14-15 (Structure of the deton wave) Session 16 - was not published Sessions 17-19 (Detonation in solid expls) Sessions 20-24 (Thermochemistry and energetics of deton) Session 25 (Measurement of deton pressure and of temp developed on deton) ... 

Modes a), b) c) presumably operate in the usual impact and/or friction initiation of pressed solid explosives, and modes a) b) in the impact and/or friction initiation of liquid explosives. Modes e), f)> g) h) operate in the shock initiation (and possibly the propagation) of detonation in solid explosive compacts or explosive liquids containing inhomogeneities. 

Packing density (for solid expls) 2) Expl column diameter or confinement 3) Chemical nature 4) Particle size 5) Binder content (in the 5 to 20% range obviously a 20+% binder content can exert a very strong effect and could cause failure) 6) Strength of initiation (primarily in liq expls, where weak initiation can produce a quasi-stable low velocity detonation in solid expls the strength of the initiator may affect run-up distance to stable detonation or even fail to initiate stable detonation)... 

A commonly accepted hypothesis utilized in explaining this tendency toward detonation in solid proplnts is the grain deflagration or surface combustion mechanism. Processes which enhance internal surface formation such as internal gas evolution and creep induced strains can be expected also to increase the tendency toward deflagration to detonation transition (DDT). The DDT phenomenon in solid proplnts was examined in some detail in Encycl Vol 4. It is believed that the build-up of internal pressures... 

Background information concerning detonations in solid and liquid explosives is available in a number of books [11], [209]-[215]. Additional information may be found not only in the proceedings of the combustion symposia and of the international colloquia on gasdynamics of explosions and reactive systems but also in the proceedings of the international symposia on detonation, published by the U.S. Office of Naval Research. These last symposia have been held periodically, approximately once every 5 years. 

In this paper we consider the possible effects of the electronic structure and of electronic transport on the initiation and propagation of detonations in solid explosives. The analyses will be necessarily preliminary, rather than rigorous and thorough, and will be occasionally speculative. This is appropriate because of the complexity of the phenomena associated with initiation and detonation of solid explosives and because of the limited earlier consideration of electronic states and transport of solid explosives, evident by the lack of published works relating electronic properties to initiation and detonation. 

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