High Explosive Ignition through Chemically Activated Nanoscale Shear Bands

Shock initiation and detonation of high explosives is considered to be controlled through hot spots, which are local regions of elevated temperature that accelerate chemical reactions. Using classical molecular dynamics, we predict the formation of nanoscale shear bands through plastic failure in shocked 1,3,5-triamino-2,4,6-trinitrobenzene high explosive crystal. By scale bridging with quantum-based molecular dynamics, we show that shear bands exhibit lower reaction barriers. While shear bands quickly cool, they remain chemically activated and support increased reaction rates without the local heating typically evoked by the hot spot paradigm. We describe this phenomenon as chemical activation through shear banding.