Improved method for prediction of detonation velocity for C−H−N−O based pure, mixed and aluminized explosives

Abstract An improved method is presented for the prediction of detonation velocity of C−H−NO based pure, mixed, and aluminized explosives. The new empirical relation is based on calculated values of the heat of detonation and the number of moles of gaseous detonation products. A constant of the empirical relation has been found using regression analysis of 74 data points of pure and mixed explosives as well as 22 data points of aluminized explosives. The value of the constant is found to be 1.00 with R 2 value of 0.96. Proposed empirical relation has been validated by comparing predicted values of detonation velocities with measured values for TNT, HMX/RDX‐TNT‐Al and HMX‐TNT based explosives. Experimental measurement of detonation velocity has been carried out using pin‐ionization method on cylindrical explosive charges of diameter 50 mm and height 150 mm. The predicted values of detonation velocities are in good agreement with measured values with a root mean square error of 1.28 %. The validation of the new relation has also been carried by comparing calculated values of detonation velocities using present and literature methods with reported experimental values.