A New Method for Predicting the Friction Sensitivity of Nitramines

This study presents a new simple correlation between friction sensitivity of nitramines and their molecular structures. This novel correlation can help chemists and chemical engineers to predict the friction sensitivity of new nitramines without using any experimental data, which is important for safety in industrial processes. The new correlation can also help to elucidate the mechanism of initiation of energetic materials by frictional stimuli. This new method assumes that friction sensitivity of a nitramine of general formula CaHbNcOd can be expressed as a function of the optimized elemental composition and the contributions of specific molecular structural parameters. The new correlation has root mean square and average deviations of 7.64 and 6.44 J, respectively, for 20 nitramines with different molecular structures. The proposed new method was also tested for 11 nitramines containing complex molecular structures.