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Towards a predictive thermal explosion model for energetic materials

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Journal of Computer-Aided Materials Design

Abstract

We present an overview of models and computational strategies for simulating the thermal response of high explosives using a multi-physics hydrodynamics code, ALE3D. Recent improvements to the code have aided our computational capability in modeling the behavior of energetic materials systems exposed to strong thermal environments such as fires. We apply these models and computational techniques to a thermal explosion experiment involving the slow heating of a confined explosive. The model includes the transition from slow heating to rapid deflagration in which the time scale decreases from days to hundreds of microseconds. Thermal, mechanical, and chemical effects are modeled during all phases of this process. The heating stage involves thermal expansion and decomposition according to an Arrhenius kinetics model while a pressure-dependent burn model is employed during the explosive phase. We describe and demonstrate the numerical strategies employed to make the transition from slow to fast dynamics. In addition, we investigate the sensitivity of wall expansion rates to numerical strategies and parameters. Results from a one-dimensional model show that violence is influenced by the presence of a gap between the explosive and container. In addition, a comparison is made between 2D model and measured results for the explosion temperature and tube wall expansion profiles.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Energetic Materials Center, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, University of California, P.O.Box 808, 94551, Livermore, CA, U.S.A.

    Jack J. Yoh, Matthew A. McClelland, Jon L. Maienschein & Jeffrey F. Wardell

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  1. Jack J. Yoh
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  2. Matthew A. McClelland
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  3. Jon L. Maienschein
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  4. Jeffrey F. Wardell
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Correspondence to Jack J. Yoh.

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Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited. The work was performed under the auspices of the U.S. Department of Energy by the University of California, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory under Contract No. W-7405-Eng-48.

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Yoh, J.J., McClelland, M.A., Maienschein, J.L. et al. Towards a predictive thermal explosion model for energetic materials. J Computer-Aided Mater Des 10, 175–189 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10820-005-1750-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10820-005-1750-z

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