Compaction wave profiles: Simulations of gas gun experiments

Mesoscale simulations of a compaction wave in a granular bed of HMX have been performed. The grains are fully resolved in order that the compaction, i.e., the porosity behind the wave front, is determined by the elastic-plastic response of the grains rather than by an empirical law for the porosity as a function of pressure. Numerical wave profiles of the pressure and velocity are compared with data from a gas gun experiment. The experiment used an initial porosity of 36%, and the wave had a pressure comparable to the yield strength of the grains. The profiles are measured at the front and back of the granular bed. The transit time for the compaction wave to propagate between the gauges determines the wave speed. The wave speed depends on the porosity behind the wave and is affected by the strength model. The yield strength needed to match the experimental wave speed is discussed. Analysis of the lead wave through the granular bed, based on impedance matches using the Hugoniot loci, indicates that the compaction wave triggers a small amount of burn, less than 1% mass fraction, on the microsecond time scale of the experiment. (C) 2001 American Institute of Physics.