Detonation shock dynamics relations for RDX-TNT based cast explosives

RDX and TNT based explosives are very useful in performing research and development works especially when complex shaping of an assembly is required due to their molding capability and the range of ratios in which they can be mixed. In this paper, for these compositions, detonation shock dynamics (DSD) relations between normal detonation velocity D_n and detonation wave curvature k are determined for RDX:TNT explosives in weight ratios 40:60, 50:50 and 60:40. Experiments are performed with 50 mm diameter rate sticks of approximately 200 mm length using high speed rotating mirror camera and time measurement probes. The results show that first order DSD relation is indeed representative of these explosives. The slope of this relation increases by increasing TNT contents in these explosives. Going from 40% to 60% TNT, the data show an increase of more than 100% in negative slope of D_n-k relation.