Publications Details

Nonequilibrium multiphase mixture modeling of energetic material response

Baer, M.R.; Hertel, E.; Bell, R.

To model the shock-induced behavior of porous or damaged energetic materials, a nonequilibrium mixture theory has been developed and incorporated into the shock physics code, CTH. Foundation for this multiphase model is based on a continuum mixture formulation given by Baer and Nunziato. In this nonequilibrium approach, multiple thermodynamic and mechanics fields are resolved including the effects of material relative motion, rate-dependent compaction, drag and heat transfer interphase effects and multiple-step combustion. Benchmark calculations are presented which simulate low-velocity piston impact on a propellant porous bed and experimentally-measured wave features are well replicated with this model. This mixture model introduces micromechanical models for the initiation and growth of reactive multicomponent flow which are key features to describe shock initiation and self-accelerated deflagration-to-detonation combustion behavior. To complement one-dimensional simulation, two dimensional numerical simulations are presented which indicate wave curvature effects due to the loss of wall confinement.