Propellants Explosives Pyrotechnics, Vol.32, No.6, 509-513, 2007
Detonation measurements on damaged LX-04
We have applied thermal insults on LX-04 at 185 degrees C and found that the material expanded significantly, resulting in a bulk density reduction of 12%. Subsequent detonation experiments (three cylinder tests) were conducted on the thermally damaged LX-04 samples and pristine low-density LX-04 samples and the results showed that the fractions reacted were close to 1.0. The thermally damaged LX-04 and pristine low-density LX-04 showed detonation velocities of 7.7-7.8 mm mu s(-1), significantly lower than that (8.5 mm mu s(-1)) of pristine high-density LX-04. Detonation energy densities for the damaged LX-04, low-density pristine LX-04, and hot cylinder shot of LX-04 were 6.48, 6.62, and 6.58 U cm(-3), respectively, lower than the detonation energy density of 8.11 U cm(-3) for the high density pristine LX-04. The break-out curves for the detonation fronts showed that the damaged LX-04 had longer edge lags than the high density pristine LX-04, indicating that the damaged explosive is less ideal.