Book Description
The research presented examines DDT of cylinders of PBX 9501 damaged above 180 C in heavy confinement for 0-3 hours and end-ignited or ramped until self-ignition (cookoff) occurred. Progression of luminous reaction was observed by streak photography through a glass-filled slit running the length of the cylinder. Post-mortem analysis of the steel DDT tubes was also done for correlation with the optical records. Results indicate that repeatable, Type I DDT was observed to occur in hot, thermally damaged PBX 9501 with low levels of porosity. It was demonstrated that multiple parameters affect DDT behavior, most likely in a coupled fashion. These parameters are porosity, ignition temperature and thermal soak duration. Conditions leading up to cookoff were shown to sensitize the HE to DDT by increasing likelihood and decreasing run length. Over the range of porosities (0-37%) and ignition temperatures (180-235 C), run lengths and detonation velocities varied, respectively, from approximately 22-109 mm and 6.0-8.3 mm [mu]s−1. This work fills a valuable and realistic space in the understanding of high explosive violent reaction, including DDT, in abnormal thermal environments.