Experimental and Computational Study on Detonation Propagation in 2D Circular Arcs of PBX 9502 for Varying Inner Radius and Thickness

The dynamics of detonation diffraction in an unconfined 2D circular arc of the TATB-based insensitive high explosive PBX 9502 was investigated previously by Short et al. (Combust. Flame, 196, 129-143, 2018). In the current study, we describe a combined experimental and computational analysis of the effect of varying inner arc surface radius and arc thickness on detonation propagation in unconfined circular arcs of PBX 9502. Experimentally, we study the change in angular speed and shape of the detonation for two arcs with the same inner radius but two different thicknesses, and a third arc with a larger inner radius. We also examine the modified geometry effects through a newly-calibrated Wescott-Stewart-Davis reactive burn model for PBX 9502. In particular, we show how the structure of the subsonic detonation driving zone evolves with changing inner radius and thickness.