Experimental investigations of mechanical and reaction responses for drop-weight impacted energetic particles

Low-velocity drop-weight impact experiments on individual and multiple Cyclotetramethylene tetranitramine (HMX) energetic particles were performed using a modified drop-weight machine equipped with high-speed photogra-phy components. Multiple particles experienced more severe burning reactions than an individual particle. Comparisons between impacted salt and HMX particle show that jetting in HMX is mainly due to the motion of fragmented parti-cles driven by gaseous reaction products. Velocity of jetting, flame propagation, and area expansion were measured via image processing, making it possible to quantify the chemi-cal reaction or mechanical deformation violence at different stages.