Shock Sensitivity of TNT

The effects of particle size (and the remaining void or hole size) and initial temperature on the shock initiation of heterogeneous explosive charges have been modeled. Investigations have included shocks of various pressures interacting with TNT, HMX and TATB with 0.5% void fraction and hole sizes from 0.5 to 0.000005 cm radius. At the same density, the most shock-sensitive explosive is the one with particle sizes between coarse and fine material. The shock sensitivity of HMX continues to increase with decreasing hole sizes for hole sizes where TNT or TATB fail. The shock sensitivity of TNT, TATB and HMX increases with initial temperature. TATB at 250°C is calculated to be as shock sensitive as HMX at 25°C. 

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