Modeling of the Dihedral Shear Compression Test for Studying Non-Shock Ignition in High Explosives

Understanding the conditions that lead to ignition in high explosives under non-shock loading scenarios is a challenging area in the field of energetic materials. This is in part due to a limited number of test results for high explosives at low and moderate impact speeds (10-100 m/s). We have developed the Dihedral Shear Compression (DiSCo) test to place high explosives under shear and compressive loads that lead to ignition. This test produces complementary ignition thresholds to those that occur in the Steven test, which allows us to constrain our High Explosive Response to Mechanical Stimuli (HERMES) shear ignition sub-model and better predict the likelihood of an explosive to ignite under non-shock load scenarios [1]. The DiSCo test will be introduced along with results of HERMES modeling of an HMX-based explosive. Where possible, comparisons between the DiSCo and Steven tests will also be drawn.

[1] J. E. Reaugh, et al. “A Computer Model to Study the Response of Energetic Materials to a Range of Dynamic Loads,” Propellants, Explosives, Pyrotechnics, 43(7), p. 703-720, 2018.

This work was performed under the auspices of the U.S. Department of Energy by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory under Contract DE-AC52-07NA27344. LLNL-ABS-832481.