Some Properties of High Explosive Mixtures of Low Sensitivity to External Stimuli

In this paper, a method of obtaining explosive mixtures of low sensitivity to external stimuli is described. The results of measurements of sensitivity to friction are presented. The decrease of sensitivity was obtained by addition of insensitive explosives like: nitroguanidine (NQ) and 3-nitro-1,2,4-triazol-5-one (NTO). Detonation velocity (VOD) and brisance for the chosen explosive mixtures were measured. VOD was determined by short circuit sensor method, and brisance was determined by the Plate-Denting Test. The velocity measurements of metal plate (thickness 2 mm) throwing by detonation products of explosive mixtures were carried out. VOD of tested mixtures are high (8000-8500 m s-1), and their density are at least 90% of maximal theoretic density, so these compositions can be defined as high explosive mixtures. The brisance of tested mixtures is also high, and considerably exceeds the brisance of TNT, in the case of HMX/NTO (49.5/50) compositions this parameter is higher than brisance of desensitized hexogene. The throwing ability for individual mixtures is high. This parameter exceeded 3500 m s-1 for almost all cases. The comparison of measured and calculated velocity of throwing plates, measured by different methods showed good compatibility.