Anomalous shock initiation of detonation in pentaerythritol tetranitrate crystals
- MS P952, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico 87545 (United States)
The anomalous, low-stress, shock initiation of detonation observed in earlier studies of pentaerythritol tetranitrate single crystals was examined in more detail experimentally. Time-resolved particle-velocity histories were obtained for [110], [001] and [100] orientations of single-crystal pentaerythritol tetranitrate explosive for shock input stresses of 4{endash}7 GPa using laser interferometry instrumentation. At about 4.2 GPa an elastic-plastic, two-wave structure was noted in [110] and [001] orientations, and a single shock wave for [100] orientation. The two-wave structure provides an explanation for the anomalous shock initiation sensitivity and intermediate velocity transition previously observed in [110] orientation at this stress level. It also explains details of fluorescent emission histories from [110] and [001] crystals previously measured. The orientation-dependent results are consistent with the model of steric hindrance to shear at the molecular level. Fits to the elastic Hugoniot data in [110] and [001] orientations are given as well as a revised fit for the bulk Hugoniot. {copyright} {ital 1997 American Institute of Physics.}
- OSTI ID:
- 463444
- Journal Information:
- Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 81, Issue 2; Other Information: PBD: Jan 1997
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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