Predicting the Plate Dent Test Output in Order to Assess the Performance of Condensed High Explosives

In the present study, a relationship is proposed that is capable of predicting the output of the plate dent test. It is shown that the initial densityd(P-0); condensed phase heat of formation.(triangle H-f(0)) : the number of carbon (C), nitrogen (N), oxygen (O); and the composition molecular weight ( MW) are the most important parameters needed in order to accurately predict the absolute dent depth (delta) produced on 1018 cold-rolled steel by a detonating organic explosive. The estimated (delta) values can be used to predict the detonation pressure (P) of high explosives; furthermore, we show that a correlation exists between (delta/P-0) and the Gurney velocity (root 2E(G)) parameter. The new correlation is used to accurately estimate (root 2E(G)) for several C-H-N-O explosive compositions.