EFFECT OF ELECTRIC FIELDS ON THE REACTION RATES IN SHOCK INITIATING AND DETONATING SOLID EXPLOSIVES

The presence of a strong electric field has been demonstrated to effect the shock initiation and detonation wave propagation of solid high explosives. Several mechanisms have been proposed to explain the observed increased shock sensitivity, increased detonation velocity, and decreased failure diameter of certain explosives. The most likely chemical mechanism is postulated to be the excitation of some of the explosive molecules and/or intermediate reaction products to higher energy electronic states, which rapidly transition nonradiatively to the ground electronic state with excited vibrational states. This vibrational excitation increases the reaction rates of the explosive decomposition chain reactions. The resulting shorter duration reaction zone causes faster shock to detonation transition, decreased failure thickness, and increased detonation velocity for a specific charge diameter.