Numerical simulation of PBX explosive ignition in steven test

An impact ignition threshold criterion based on the pressure and the plastic strain rate was assumed. Numerical simulation of mechanical response of PBX 9501 was performed using LS-DYNA. The experimental values of pressure and cover plate dent depth were used to verify the constitutive equation and computation models. The threshold criterion for low-velocity impact ignition of PBX 9501 is (p ε̇)_ig=0.001 56 GPa/μs, where p is the pressure and ε̇ is the plastic strain rate. (p ε̇)_ig can be used to predict the ignition velocities of PBX 9501s with different sizes under the different constraint conditions. The predicted results agree well with the experimental results.