The Combustion of Explosives

The safe use of energetic materials has been scientifically studied for over 100 years. Even with this long history of scientific inquiry, the level of understanding of the important deflagration phenomena in accidental initiations of high explosives remains inadequate to predict the response to possible thermal and mechanical (impact) scenarios. The search also continues for improved explosives and propellants that perform well, yet are insensitive. Currently, the most significant uncertainties are in the processes immediately following ignition. Once ignition occurs in an explosive, the question then becomes what the resulting violence will be. The classical view is that simple wave propagation proceeds from the ignition point. Recently, several experiments have elucidated the importance of reactive cracks involved in reaction violence in both thermally ignited experiments and impacted explosives, in contrast to classical assumptions. This paper presents a view of reaction violence, in both thermal and mechanical insults, that argues for the importance of reactive cracks, rather than simple wave propagation processes. Recent work in this area will be reviewed and presented. Initial results involving novel energetic materials will also be discussed. Novel materials may yield insight into the mechanisms involved with rapid deflagration processes.