Plasma in Detonation

Detonation (and Explosion), Piercing-Stream Theory of Apin. See Detonation (and Explosion), Penetrating- (or Jet-Piercing-) Theory of 

A plasma is an appreciably ionized gas(about 1% or more) having no net charge, and may have a wide range of densities. Plasmas are of particular interest because of the possibility of initiating nuclear fusion in them, but they also appear in such phenomena as a neon sign, a lightning stroke, the ionosphere about the earth, shock waves, and the compressed layer of hot gas about an object entering the earth s atmosphere They appear in flames and detonation waves. It seems well established that free radicals and ions are present at well over equilibrium concentrations in flames (Ref 1). The ions appear to be produced not by thermal processes but by chemical factors which cause abnormal electronic excitation 

Cook attributes the flashacross during the DDT (Deflagration to Detonation Transition), in which the shock front in an explosive is overtaken by the combustion 

Accdg to Dunkle (Refs 19 20), plasmas come into play in the detonation head and are very important in EBW s (exploding bridge wires) (Ref 18) (See also Addnl Refs A, B, C, D E) 

Refs 1) H.F. Calcote I.R. King, Studies of Ionization in Flames by Means of Langmuir Probes , pp 423-34 in the 5thSympCombstn (1955) 2) R.M. Patrick A. Kantrowitz, 

---