Research on propagation characteristics of explosion shock waves from typical aluminized explosives under negative pressure environment

Abstract. Aluminized explosives are one of the most widely used explosives in warheads. High-altitude and rarefied gas environments have a non-negligible influence on the energy output characteristics and damage effects of aluminized explosives. To investigate the effects of negative pressure environment on the explosion shock waves of typical HMX-based and TATB-based aluminized explosives, negative pressure explosion experiments were carried out in a designed adjustable vacuum explosion container. PCB pressure sensors were adopted to measure the overpressure of shock wave in the explosion container under ambient pressures of 100 kPa, 80 kPa, 70 kPa, 60 kPa and 50 kPa, respectively. On the other hand, the tungsten-rhenium sheathed thermocouples were used to measure the temperature variation process inside the explosion container. The experimental results show that the peak overpressure of explosion shock wave decreases with the reduction of air pressure inside the explosion container, with a decrement of approximately 1%–3.5% for every 10 kPa drop in air pressure. When the ambient pressure drops below 80 kPa, the peak overpressure of the explosion shock wave exhibits a more remarkable decrease with the further reduction of ambient pressure. Different air pressure conditions exert a certain influence on the temperature of the explosion field. The temperature inside the explosion container under the standard atmospheric pressure is lower than that under other negative-pressure environment conditions, which is due to the fact that the increased air content accelerates the rapid dissipation of energy and heat released by the explosion. The research results can provide a certain reference for the evaluation of blast damage effectiveness of aluminized explosives in high-altitude regions.