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Title: ONE-DIMENSIONAL TIME TO EXPLOSION (THERMAL SENSITIVITY) TESTS ON PETN, PBX-9407, LX-10, AND LX-17

Technical Report ·
DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/1237577· OSTI ID:1237577
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  1. Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)

Incidents caused by fire and combat operations can heat energetic materials that may lead to thermal explosion and result in structural damage and casualty. Some explosives may thermally explode at fairly low temperatures (< 100 C) and the violence from thermal explosion may cause a significant damage. Thus it is important to understand the response of energetic materials to thermal insults. The One Dimensional Time to Explosion (ODTX) system at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory has been used for decades to measure times to thermal explosion, threshold thermal explosion temperature, and determine the kinetic parameters of thermal decomposition of energetic materials. Samples of different configurations (pressed part, powder, paste, and liquid) can be tested in the system. The ODTX testing can also provide useful data for assessing the thermal explosion violence of energetic materials. This report summarizes the results of our recent ODTX experiments on PETN powder, PBX-9407 pressed part, LX-10 pressed part, LX-17 pressed part and compares the test data that were obtained decades ago with the older version of ODTX system. Test results show the thermal sensitivity of various materials tested in the following order: PETN> PBX-9407 > LX-10 > LX-17.

Research Organization:
Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE
DOE Contract Number:
AC52-07NA27344
OSTI ID:
1237577
Report Number(s):
LLNL-TR-681467
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English