Comparative analysis of physical mechanisms of detonation initiation in HMX and in a low-sensitive explosive (TATB)

Based on the concept of hot spots, the basic physical factors determining the macrokinetics of chemical reactions in heterogeneous crystalline explosives are estimated. The macrokinetics in plasticized TATB is shown to be basically determined by the velocity of combustion propagation from microscopic reaction spots (hot spots), whereas the macrokinetics in plasticized HMX is determined by the density of hot spots. __________ Translated from Fizika Goreniya i Vzryva, Vol. 45, No. 1, pp. 89‐99, January–February, 2009.