A General Concept Concerning Energetic Material Sensitivity and Initiation [1]

Stimulation and propagation of an energetic material to a catastrophic explosive event could be described as a interactive transfer of mechanistic mechanical, physical, and chemical processes progressing through an "initiation train" sequence, which begins at the bulk material level, next proceeds into the microstructural regime, then to the molecular level, and finally reaches into the atomic region. These mechanistic processes comprising this sequential initiation train serve several functions. First, some create the physically-structured environment and conditions in the initiation train which are needed to house and propagate other mechanisms associated with energy functions and chemical reaction pathways. Secondly, other detailed mechanisms define the orderly transfer and conversion of energy generated during the initiation train sequence, and thirdly, still other detailed mechanisms provide the kinetically-regulated chemical reactions which control energy release rates and provide the intermediate and final chemical product species which drive the detonation wave front. The rate at which these various mechanisms occur in the initiation train defines the sensitivity of an energetic material. This initiation train concept, its potential for controlling sensitivity, and the relevance of certain mechanistic aspects and data as component parts in this initiation train are outlined.