Shock Compression and Initiation of LX‐10

LX‐10 is a high energy density solid explosive consisting of 94.5% octahydro‐1,3,5,7‐tetranitro‐1,3,5,7‐tetrazocine (HMX) and 5.5% Viton A Binder pressed to 1.865 g/cm 3 (98.4% of theoretical maximum density). In this paper the shock compression and initiation of chemical reaction in LX‐10 by sustained shock pressures of 0.4 to 3 GPa are studied experimentally using embedded pressure and particle velocity gauges. The resulting pressure and particle velocity histories are evaluated theoretically using the ignition and growth reactive flow computer model of shock initiation and detonation. Manganin resistance and polyvinylidene fluoride (PVF 2 ) ferroelectric pressure gauges are both employed in the low pressure (0.4 – 0.7 GPa) shock compression experiments. Multiple manganin pressure and multiple electromagnetic foil particle velocity gauges measure the growth of reaction at various positions in LX‐10 shocked to 1 – 3 GPa. The reactive flow modeling results imply that less than one percent of the LX‐10 shocked to 0.4 – 0.7 GPa reacts in fifteen microseconds. For the higher pressure experiments, the ignition and growth model accurately calculates the pressure and/or particle velocity buildup in LX‐10 as the reaction grows toward detonation. The LX‐10 calculations are compared to those for the well‐calibrated explosive PBX‐9404, which contains 94% HMX and a reactive binder. Since it has the inert binder Viton A and better mechanical properties than PBX‐9404, LX‐10 is demonstrated to be significantly less reactive than PBX‐9404 at these shock pressures. Therefore LX‐10 is safer than PBX‐9404 in many hazard and vulnerability scenarios to which solid explosives may be subjected.