Deflagration Wave Profiles

Abstract

Shock initiation in a plastic-bonded explosives (PBX) is due to hot spots. Current reactive burn models are based, at least heuristically, on the ignition and growth concept. The ignition phase occurs when a small localized region of high temperature (or hot spot) burns on a fast time scale. This is followed by a growth phase in which a reactive front spreads out from the hot spot. Propagating reactive fronts are deflagration waves. A key question is the deflagration speed in a PBX compressed and heated by a shock wave that generated the hot spot. Here, the ODEs for a steady deflagration wave profile in a compressible fluid are derived, along with the needed thermodynamic quantities of realistic equations of state corresponding to the reactants and products of a PBX. The properties of the wave profile equations are analyzed and an algorithm is derived for computing the deflagration speed. As an illustrative example, the algorithm is applied to compute the deflagration speed in shock compressed PBX 9501 as a function of shock pressure. The calculated deflagration speed, even at the CJ pressure, is low compared to the detonation speed. The implication of this are briefly discussed.