SENSITIVITY FUNDAMENTALS

Detonation experiments have been carried out in glass and steel cylinders, using nitromethane- tetranitromethane mixtures and the bis difluoroamino compounds, 1,2-DP, 2,2-DP, and IBA. Results in glass indicate that this material is too frangible for the events occurring in the liquid to be seen. Results in steel show that a damaing low velocity reaction can take place in the difluoroamino compounds as well as the NM-TNM MIXTURES. Two models for low velocity reaction are discussed. Shock transit times through CR-39 attenuators are reported for the new 2-inch-diameter 9404 donor charges. Simultaneous measurements of free surface velocity permit calculation of peak pressure for the various attenuator thicknesses. The failure diameter for the high velocity detonation wave in 2,2-DP in heaby lead confinement is approximately 4 mm. Kinetic data have been obtained for the decomposition of several NF compounds in 30% aqueous dioxane and in 30% aqueous diglyme (diethylene glycol dimethyl ether) at 50 C. The reactions have been followed not only by disappearance of starting material, but also by appearance of products. The thermal decomposition behavior of 2,3-DB-1 in nitrobenzene at 187 C was found to resemble that of the other NF compounds studied previously. The reaction was autocatalytic and none of the dehydrofluorination product, 2,3-BIB, was formed. (Author)