GAUGE RUN-TO-DETONATION DATA AND FAILURE/DEAD ZONE MODELING

Previous shock initiation run-to-detonation experiments on energetic materials were plotted with distance and time to get a single distance/time to detonation. Modern shots utilize enough gauges so that the distance-time data can be differentiated, which shows not only the usual inflection pressure point before detonation, referred to here as P(b), but also a second, low-pressure inflection, referred to here as P(a), that marks rapid ramp-up of the initiation. An analysis of the TATB based LX-17 and PBX 9502 in addition to the LLM-105 based RX-55 data shows that both P(a) and P(b) increase linearly with the initiation pressure created by the flyer plate. This contradicts the current method in the Tarantula failure/dead zone model, which uses constant pressure boundaries between reaction regions. Modeling changes required by the new data will be considered.