Publications Details

Cookoff of an explosive and two propellants

Hobbs, Michael L.; Kaneshige, Michael; Erikson, William W.

Determining the thermal response of energetic materials at high densities can be difficult when pressure dependent reactions occur within the interior of the material. At high temperatures, reactive components such as hexahydro-l,3,5-tri-nitro-l,3,5-triazine (RDX), ammonium perchlorate (AP), and hydroxyl-terminated polybutadiene (HTPB) decompose and interact. The decomposition products accumulate near defects where internal pressure ultimately causes mechanical damage with closed pores transitioning into open pores. Gases are no longer confined locally; instead, they freely migrate between open pores and ultimately escape into the surrounding headspace or vent. Recently we have developed a universal cookoff model (UCM) coupled to a micromechanics pressurization (MMP) model to address pressure-dependent reactions that occur within the interior of explosives. Parameters for the UCM/MMP model are presented for an explosive and two propellants that contain similar portions of both aluminum (Al) and a binder. The explosive contains RDX and the propellants contain AP with no RDX. One of the propellants contains small amounts of curing catalysts and a burn modifier whereas the other propellant does not. We found that the cookoff behavior of the two propellants behave similarly leading and conclude that small amounts of catalysts or burn modifiers do not influence cookoff behavior appreciably. Kinetic parameters for the UCM/MMP models were obtained from the Sandia Instrumented Thermal Ignition (SITI) experiment. Validation is done with data from other laboratories.