Shock initiation studies of ammonium nitrate explosives

The influence of the mass and size of detonator on the ignition and development of detonation in mixtures of ammonium nitrate with trinitrotoluene and aluminium is investigated. The mean velocity of explosion propagation is measured at different depths in an explosive charge. To perform a numerical analysis of the initiation the active mass of detonator is determined and a one-dimensional model is proposed. A three-term, macrokinetic equation is used to describe the decomposition of the explosive. The experimental results for the mixtures initiated by RDX detonators are compared with those from a computer simulation. Both physical and chemical interpretations of the results are presented.