Maximum-Rate Theory of Impact Sensitivity

Abstract

The classification of modern explosives according to their sensitivity to impact has apparently defied satisfactory theoretical or empirical solution since the beginning of their use late in the 19th Century. Intensive investigations made during both World Wars [1,2,3] failed to resolve the stubborn problem of obtaining reproducible test results from one laboratory to another, although apparently similar test procedures were used. In the past decade, the problem has again become of increasing interest because of the large-scale production and use of liquid oxygen for missiles and rocket-propelled aircraft. The problem in this case concerns a variety of component materials not ordinarily considered to be explosives, e.g., lubricants, gaskets, O-rings, packings, solvents, paint, insulation on wires, or simply hydrocarbon contamination in the gaseous- and liquid-oxygen valves, lines, and tanks. All these materials containing carbon, hydrogen, and any other potential fuel ingredient are sensitive to impact to a greater or lesser degree in the presence of gaseous or liquid oxygen.