High-order methods for reactive dynamics in condensed phases with interfaces

Heterogenous energetic materials (HE) are central functional components in munitions, fuzes and triggers. HE such as plastic bonded explosive (PBX) and pressed explosives contain void spaces and interfaces. The sensitivity of HEs depends on shock interactions at crystal-crystal, crystal-binder interfaces and at voids/defects. Spatial resolution requirements to accurately calculate reactive dynamics localized at the complex interfaces in both PBX and pressed explosives are very stringent. 3rd-order accurate schemes used in previous works require very fine meshes to resolve interfaces, shocks and reactive fronts and to capture reactive dynamics in a grid-independent manner. High-order methods offer a way out. Small error magnitudes can be achieved using much coarser meshes. In this work, a WENO5 scheme is used to study the response of condensed phase materials under shock loading. This study is done through interface resolved simulations using a sharp interface Eulerian framework. The high-order scheme is combined with levelset tracking and ghost-fluid methods to delineate and apply boundary conditions on embedded interfaces. Test problems involving shocks, reactive flows and interfaces are used to evaluate the accuracy, computational cost, and performance of high-order methods.