Mechanistic Reactive Burn Modeling of Solid Explosives

Abstract

This report describes a computational framework for reactive burn modeling of solid explosives and the development of a test case where physical mechanisms represent RDX or RDX-based materials. The report is a sequel to LA-13794-MS, ''A Unifying Framework for Hot Spots and the Ignition of Energetic Materials,'' where we proposed a new approach to the building of a general purpose model that captures the essential features of the three primary origins of hot-spot formation: void collapse, shear banding, friction. The purpose of the present report is to describe the continuing task of coupling the unifying hot-spot model to hydrodynamic calculations to develop a mechanistic reactive burn model. The key components of the coupling include energy localization, the growth of hot spots, overall hot-spot behavior, and a phase-averaged mixture equation of state (EOS) in a Mie-Grueneisen form. The nucleation and growth of locally heated regions is modeled by a phenomenological treatment as well as a statistical model based on an exponential size distribution. The Mie-Grueneisen form of the EOS is one of many possible choices and is not a critical selection for implementing the model. In this report, model calculations are limited to proof-of-concept illustrations for shock loading. Results include (1) shock ignition and growth-to-detonation, (2) double shock ignition, and (3) quenching and reignition. A comparative study of Pop-plots is discussed based on the statistical model.