Analysis of the Sensitivity of Mixtures of Octogen with Aluminum According to the Results of Testing by the Fracturing Shell Method

Abstract

On the example of mixtures of octogen with aluminum powders of various dispersities, an approximate theoretical analysis of the method of testing solid explosive materials (EMs) for sensitivity to mechanical stress, known as the collapsing shell (CS) method, is carried out. A physical model of the mechanical behavior of the mixture during friction in the flow of the destroyed material is developed and an analytical expression is obtained for the law of heat release during the thermal decomposition of a mixture of octogen with aluminum to calculate the critical parameters of the initiation of an explosion during the removal of the load on an EM (pressure, velocity of the substance, etc.). The mixture’s explosion initiation pattern is numerically modeled under the assumption of the physical and mechanical similarity of the processes of destruction of charges in the CS method and in conventional tests of EMs for sensitivity to impact on a pile driver. An analysis of the obtained time dependences of the parameters of the spreading material shows that the chemical interaction between the components of the mixture is actively manifested during the dynamic unloading of octogen charges with nanosized aluminum particles and is practically absent in mixtures with aluminum with micron-sized particles.