Shock Initiation Experiments on PBX9501 Explosive at 150°C for Ignition and Growth Modeling

Abstract

Shock initiation experiments on the explosive PBX9501 (95% HMX, 2.5% estane, and 2.5% nitroplasticizer by weight) were performed at 150°C to obtain in‐situ pressure gauge data and Ignition and Growth modeling parameters. A 101 mm diameter propellant driven gas gun was utilized to initiate the PBX9501 explosive with manganin piezoresistive pressure gauge packages placed between sample slices. The run‐distance‐to‐detonation points on the Pop‐plot for these experiments showed agreement with previously published data and Ignition and Growth modeling parameters were obtained with a good fit to the experimental data. This parameter set will allow accurate code predictions to be calculated for safety scenarios involving PBX9501 explosives at temperatures close to 150°C.