Study of Detonation in Condensed Explosives by One-Dimensional Channel Flow

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Abstract
The detonation of mixtures of 80/20 ammonium nitrate/trinitrotoluene was studied using pseudo one‐dimensional channel flow. A layer of explosive was confined symmetrically by two relatively massive metal plates whose shock velocity was higher than the detonation velocity of any of the explosive mixtures studied, thus producing a close approximation to a steady‐state two dimensional detonation. From measurements of the plate velocity the flow could be analyzed as a pseudo one‐dimensional channel flow. The quantity (dP/dp)½ was found to have a maximum which served as an approximate experimental measure of the location of the Chapman—Jouguet point. The observed dynamic quantities were in substantial agreement with the Zeldovich—von Neumann—Doering model. Variation of the particle size of the ammonium nitrate produced a complex effect on reaction time, which could be adequately interpreted in terms of the three reaction steps in the detonation. Flash radiography provided a check on the one‐dimensionality of the flow and allowed a rough estimate of the density profile behind the front, which was compared with the optical results.

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