Qualitative Theory of Detonation

Detonation, Qualitative Theory of. A brief description of a qualitative theory of the variation of detonation vel with chge diameter and the effect of confinement, as described by Taylor (1952), pp 145-48 is as follows  

The fundamental hydrodynamic theory of deton refers to a chge of infinite diam or a cylindrical chge encased in a perfectly rigid tube. Of course, ideal lateral confinement can never be realized completely since even massive metal tubes are compressible under the internal pressure developed during deton 

The propagation of a steady wave is detd by conditions ahead of the Cj-layer which constitutes a moving energy barrier across which no gain or loss can take place. In a cartridge under perfect lateral confinement, the CJ-layer will lie in the plane where chem equilibrium is reached. 

This qualitative theory gives a picture of why, for any expl, there is a critical min diam below which the expl fails to detonate, another less clearly defined diam above which the expl detonates at its max and, in between, a range of diam over which the deton vel increases as the max vel is approached. It also explains why encasing the expl in a rigid tube increases the vel of deton 

Detonation, Radial Expansion in. The term used by G.B. Kistiakowsky in Kirk 8t Othmer, Vol 5 (1950), p 958 for the phenomenon 

---