Shock Initiation Investigation of a Pressed Trinitrotoluene Explosive

Abstract The shock initiation process of a pressed trinitrotoluene (TNT) at density of 1.563 g cm −3 was studied by manganese‐copper gauge measurement experiments as well as numerical simulation for assessing the performance and detonation growth characteristics in such pressed samples. Through gap test, the shock pressure histories at different inner positions of the target TNT charges were measured. The parameterization on shock initiation model proposed by Lee & Tarver for numerical simulation were accomplished. The equation of state for unreacted explosive in the model was obtained by fitting Hugoniot data calculated from molecular dynamic simulation and shock temperature based on Walsh's solution. The equation of state for the detonation products was theoretically predicted by EXPLO5. Combining those procedures, the ignition and growth model for a pressed TNT was accurately parameterized together with experimental pressure history data. Experiment and simulation indicate that when the input pressures are 6.13 GPa and 8.67 GPa, respectively, the corresponding run distances to detonation are >9 mm and 6 mm. The calculated pressure growth histories at different inner positions of the pressed TNT sample can well reproduce the correspondingly measured values. The determined ignition and growth model will be expected to put in use in subsequent simulation analysis with complex geometrical scenarios.