Propagation of Axially Symmetric Detonation Waves*
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Propagation of Axially Symmetric Detonation Waves* Robert L. Druce, Franklin Roeske, Jr., P. Clark Souers, Craig M. Tarver, Charles T. S. Chow, Ronald S. Lee, Estella M. McGuire, George E. Overturf III and Peter A. Vitello Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory Livermore, CA 94550 We have studied the non-ideal propagation of detonation waves in LX-10 and in the insensitive explosive TATB. Explosively-driven, 5.8-mm-diameter, 0.125-mm-thick aluminum flyer plates were used to initiate 38-mm-diameter, hemispherical samples of LX-10 pressed to a density of 1.86 g/cm3 and of TATB at a density of 1.80 g/cm3. The TATB powder was a grade called ultrafine (UFTATB), having an arithmetic mean particle diameter of about 8-10 µm and a specific surface area of about 4.5 m2/g. Using PMMA as a transducer, output pressure was measured at 5 discrete points on the booster using a Fabry-Perot velocimeter. Breakout time was measured on a line across the booster with a streak camera. Each of the experimental geometries was calculated using the Ignition and Growth Reactive Flow Model, the JWL++ Model and the Programmed Burn Model. Boosters at both ambient and cold (-20 °C and –54 °C) temperatures have been experimentally and computationally studied. A comparison of experimental and modeling results is presented. INTRODUCTION hemisphere of UFTATB with an average density of 3 The properties of non-ideal explosives 1.80+0.005 g/cm . The boosters are formed by sometimes make them more difficult to utilize, but uniaxially compacting a known mass of UFTATB 2 these same properties greatly reduce the chance of powder (8 µm mean particle size, 4.5 m /g specific unintended reaction or detonation, both in surface area) into a hemispherical die of known utilization and in storage. TATB is such an final volume. This method yields the correct bulk explosive, having a reaction zone > 1 mm. There is density for the overall booster, however localized an ongoing study at Lawrence Livermore National inhomogeneities occur because of the frictional Laboratory (LLNL) of the detonation output packing of the particles at the die walls and at the properties of UFTATB boosters. The study includes moving ram face. Given that the compaction forces boosters of various ages and powder batches. Since are normal to the axis of rotation within this the ability of the detonation wave to burn uniformly hemispherical part, the inhomogeneities tend to be throughout the main charge high explosive is one of axisymmetric, allowing a 2-D representation of the the properties that can materially affect inhomogeneities. The UFTATB boosters were performance, we are monitoring parameters that inspected using a computer aided tomography x-ray will be affected by corner turning in the booster. scanner. The detector for the scanner is a 14-bit Diagnostics include velocimetry at five discrete 1K x 1K Apogee CCD camera lens-coupled to a points and a streak camera. The positions of the Terbium activated glass scintillator. The x-ray velocimeter probes were chosen to provide data at source for the system is a PHILIPS 450 kVp tube several points on a line of constant longitude on the and generator. For these small parts we made use of booster. The streak camera view was chosen to the 5 cm field of view (50 µm pixels size at the provide timing confirmation and to provide a link scintillator), and had the source parameters at with experiments conducted previously with only 200 kVp, 4.5 mA, with the 1 mm spot. The source streak camera diagnostics. It has been shown that and object were positioned to ensure a source blur anomalies in the detonation wave are accentuated at of less than a pixel at the center of the object. To reduced temperature. For that reason, we detonated improve the signal-to-noise ratio within the data set, boosters at ambient temperature, -20 °C and -54 °C all voxels within the same axisymmetric radius are to study the effect of temperature as the boosters averaged together and shown as a radial average age. density plot as shown in Figure 1. The highest THE BOOSTERS densities are found at the ram face near the die wall. The lowest densities are found near the pole because The booster of interest is a 3.8 cm diameter the force cannot fully transfer through the part to * This work was performed under the auspices of the U.S. Department of Energy by the University of California, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory under Contract No. W-7405-Eng-48. shock-initiates the flat surface of the booster to transfer the detonation to the booster. This detonator has a stainless steel surface in intimate contact with the entire flat surface of the booster (except for the area impacted by the aluminum flyer). The shot assembly consists of the hemispherical booster, initiated by the EBW or two- stage slapper detonator, with a PMMA shell around the periphery of the booster. The PMMA shell forms a window and mount for PMMA plugs used as pressure transducers. A streak camera is used to view the detonation breakout along the entire periphery of the booster from equator-to-pole-to-equator. Fabry-Perot velocimetry is utilized to determine the 1.70 1.75 1.80 1.85 1.90 1.95 detonation pressure at five discrete points along the periphery of the booster from the pole to the equator Figure 1. False-color representation of the at an azimuth of 90 degrees to the plane of the radial average densities in a pressed booster of breakout observations. The velocimeter utilizes ultrafine TATB. Color bar represents densities Doppler-shifted light to analyze the velocity of a in g/cm2. reflective surface. This system consists of a laser light source and an analyzer that is made up of a single Fabry-Perot interferometer and five fully compact this region. Density variations within electronic streak cameras to record the velocity boosters are typically found to be within 2-3%. records. The velocimetry probes are non-contact devices that are aimed at the surface of the booster o o o o o o The first set of four shots used a near-ideal at angles of 3 or 7 , 30 , 60 , 75 and 85 relative to o o explosive, LX-10 (95% HMX/5% Viton A), as a the pole. The 3 /7 probe is offset from the pole to surrogate for the UFTATB boosters. The LX-10 give the streak camera a clear view of the booster at surrogates were machined to a 3.8 cm diameter the pole. The breakout observation is used to hemisphere from an LX-10 billet that was pressed to 3 confirm timing and to provide a link to past a density of 1.86 g/cm . The LX-10 surrogates were experiments, which utilized breakout observations used to provide calibration with a known, near-ideal as the sole diagnostic. Photo 1 is a view of the explosive. Two of the LX-10 boosters were point- experiment fixture for a cold experiment with a initiated with hemispherical detonators. The booster installed. A custom probe designed and boosters initiated by hemispherical detonators had a manufactured on-site is used for illumination and hemispherical cavity machined into the flat surface return light collection. The diameter of the focal to place the initiation point at the center of the spot at the experiment is approximately 300 µm. hemisphere. There is a small section of 12.7 µm thick aluminum foil placed over the booster at each Fabry-Perot EXPERIMENT viewing location with the dull side toward the probe The two types of detonators used in the to provide a semi-diffuse reflector on the booster investigations were a hemispherical exploding surface. The probe collects a part of the Doppler- bridge wire detonator (EBW) and a two-stage shifted light reflected from the booster to return to slapper detonator. The hemispherical EBW the analyzer. The analyzer consists of conditioning detonator has an output that is uniform in time and optics, the Fabry-Perot interferometer, and streak pressure over a hemispherical surface. In the two- cameras as recording media1. The Fabry-Perot stage slapper detonator, an electrical slapper interferometer is a Burleigh adjustable cavity model initiates an LX-16 (96% PETN/4% FPC 461) pellet, set to 4.585 cm separation with a velocity constant which throws a second aluminum flyer 5.8 mm in of 870 m/s/fringe. All streak cameras are triggered diameter and 0.125-mm-thick. The aluminum flyer at the same time and the record lengths are set for PMMA and is ignored. There is also a correction as the diverging shock wave propagates in the PMMA. This correction is small initially and grows in magnitude as the shock wave outruns the reflective surface. Since we are primarily interested in the early-time propagation, this correction is also ignored. The PMMA used was pre-shrunk and conformed to Military Specification L-P-391D. Knowing this information allows us to calculate the shock pressure from the observed velocities and the known material constants. We will describe later in the paper how these experiments provided a unique opportunity to test the PMMA Hugoniot. The streak camera viewing the detonation breakout Photo 1. Photo of cold booster fixture showing is a Cordin model 132 rotating mirror camera set to booster and cooling enclosure. 5000 RPS. This setting gives approximately 20 mm/µs on the film with a total record length of according to the shot requirements. The record 15 µs. length varies from 1.2 to 2.4 µs for a 3 cm long sweep.