Investigating correlations between explosive impact sensitivity and mechanical properties using nanoindentation

Handling sensitivity is the first parameter that must be evaluated in order to work safely with explosive samples. This can be measured using a variety of tests, including drop-weight impact sensitivity. In addition to safety, there is is a longstanding scientific interest in the explosives community to connect, if possible, chemical, physical, and mechanical properties to impact sensitivity. Although the physical and mechanical properties of explosives have been studied for many decades, systematic efforts investigating their relationship to handling sensitivity are rare. Most mechanical characterization of explosives has historically been done on plastic-bonded composites containing conventional explosives, but recently nanoindentation has been used to probe the mechanical response of pure explosive single crystals. In this study, we employ nanoindentation techniques to measure hardness and elastic modulus of a variety of explosives in order to search for correlations to drop-weight impact sensitivity. Both primary and secondary explosives are studied, along with mechanical behavior and sensitivity trends.