Reactions of a high explosive under low intensity impact with adjustable amplitude and duration

Laboratory testing with adjustable loading amplitudes and durations remains the primary method for assessment of the safety of explosives under either launch or penetration environment. In this study, a novel impact testing laboratory equipment with loading amplitudes ranging from 0.1 to 1.0 GPa and pulse durations ranging from 1 to 8 ms is established. It was used to investigate the safety of a 2,4-dinitroanisole (DNAN)-based melt-cast explosive subjected to impact loading in either launch or penetration scenarios. The explosive’s response to the impact loading depends not only on the loading characteristics (peak pressure and maximum rate of pressure rise) but also on the confinements of the explosives. The ignition events of the explosives exhibited some randomness. A logistic regression analysis method was utilized to analyze such ignition events. This method can predict the ignition events of the DNAN-based melt-cast explosive with a high accuracy, which demonstrates the effectiveness of the method. The effect of the confinements of the explosives on the accuracy of this method was also investigated.