Propellants and Explosives 3, 109-115 (1978)
109
O v e r l a g Chemie, GmbH, D-6940 Weinheim, 1978
The Propagation of Blasts from Solid Explosives to Two-Phase Media
Y. Oved, Sh. Eidelrnan* and A. Burcat
Department of Aeronautical Engineering, Technion - Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa (Israel)
Die Ausbreitung der StoRwellen von festen Sprengstoffen in
Zweiphasen- Medien
Ziel dieser Untersuchungen ist die Bestimmung des Einflusses der
Energieiibertragung von einem brenn baren Zweiphasen-Medium auf
die von einer Sprengladung erzeugte Detonationswelle und zwar im
ersten Augenblick des Ereignisses. Zu diesem Zweck wurde Compo-
sition B in Form einer Kugelladung verwendet und zur Detonation
gebracht in Luft, in Stickstoff, dem feste Kohlenstoff-Teilchen bei-
gemischt waren, und in Sauerstoffatmosphare, die Aluminium- und
Kohlenstoff-Partikel enthielt. Die Geschwindigkeit der StoRwelle
wurde gemessen in all diesen Medien mit einer Hochgeschwindigkeits-
kamera bei Bildfrequenzen von 300000 Bildern pro Sekunde und
durch Streak-Photographie bei Geschwindigkeiten von 2mmlps. Der
EinfluR der Energieubertragung oder der Absorption durch das
Medium wurden vergleichsweise untersucht in inerten und in brenn-
baren Medien, wahrend andere Parameter konstant gehalten wurden.
Die Ergebnisse wurden mit Kozorezov’s Dreifach-Isentropen-
Modell in Beziehung gesetzt und gute llbereinstimmung gefunden.
Die vorliegende Arbeit enthalt eine ausfuhrliche Beschreibung der
Experimente und der durchgefuhrten Berechnungen.
Summary
The aim of this investigation is to determine the influence of the
energy release from a combustible two-phase media on the blast
wave generated by an explosive charge, during the first stages of the
process. For this purpose ball charges of “Composition B” were
detonated in air, in pure nitrogen containing suspended solid par-
ticlesof carbon, and in pure oxygen containing particlesof aluminum
and carbon. The blast wave’s velocity was measured in all the media
usingfast frame camera 300,000 f.p.s. andstreak photography at
2 mm/ys. The influence of release o r absorption of energy by the me-
dium was investigated by comparing experiments done in inert media
with those conducted in combustible media while other parameters
are kept constant.
Kozorezov’s triple isentrope model was compared to the results,
and good agreement is found. The article contains detailed informa-
tion on the experiments and the calculations performed.
Nomenclature
I)O detonation velocity of the explosive
k isentrope coefficient for detonation products of the
charge
n isentrope coefficient for solid explosive
P pressure
K = rho radius of expanded blast wave over initial radius of the
explosive charge
t time
UX velocity of interface
velocity of detonation products
”b
V shock wave velocity
V specific volume
Y isentrope coefficient for gas
P density
* In partial fulfilment of a D.Sc. Thesis to be presented to the
Senate of the Technion - I.I.T.
La propagation des ondes d e choc engendrees par un explosif soiide
dans un milieu A deux phases
Le but de cette etude est de determiner I’influence de la transmis-
sion de I’energie d’un milieu combustible a deux phases sur I’onde
de detonation engendrke par une charge explosive, au cows de la
premitre phase du phenomtne. A cet effet, o n a fait detoner des
charges spheriques de composition B dans l’air, dans de I’azote
contenant des particules de carbone et dans de l’oxygtne contenant
des particules d’aluminium et de carbone. La vitesse de propagation
de I’onde de choc a CtP mesuree dans ces differents milieux a I’aide
d’une camera ultra-rapide permettant d’enregistrer 300000 images
par seconde et a I‘aide d’une camera a fente avec une vitesse de
defilement du film de 2 m d y s . On a etudie I’influence de la
transmission ou de I’absorption de I’energie par le milieu en effec-
tuant des essais comparatifs avec des milieux inertes et combustibles
et en maintenant constants les autres paramttres.
Les resultats obtenus concordent bien avec le modtle isentropique
triple de Kozorezov. Le present article donne une description
detaillie des experiences et des calculs qui ont etC effectues.
Subscripts
b beginning
X distance
01 boundary condition between n and k region of the
isentrope
P boundary condition between k and y region of the
isentrope
1. Introduction
Recent catastrophic explosions of fuel spilage from pipe-
lines and tankers as well as numerous grain elevator explo-
sions in U.S.A. have focused the interest on problems of
flame to detonation transition phenomena in two-phase
media. As a contribution t C this subject it was decided to
investigate the influence of energy transfer from the com-
bustion media t o the blast wave generated by the explosive
charge.
To the authors’ best knowledge no experimental investi-
gation has been published in this domain. Besides a large
number of investigations and monographs dealing with the
explosion of charges in air(’, 2), there are a few papers deal-
ing with the transition from combustion to detonation of
aluminum and carbon powders dispersed in oxygen in a
shock
In this paper a series of experiments are described where
a ball charge is detonated in three kinds of media:
- in air
- in neutral two-phase media
- in combustible two-phase media.
The three kinds of experiments are compared between them-
selves and with a model proposed recently in the litera-
ture(6)’1.
110 Y . Oved, Sh. Eidelman and A. Burcat
2. Experimental
The experimental system was designed so that one di-
mensional flow is achieved in the measurement region and
the distribution of the particles is uniform, with a definite
concentration value.
The system consisted of a ball explosive charge that was
fit into a cubic box of approx. (40)3 cm3. One of the
faces of the box was made of glass to permit photographing
the events inside the box.
The explosive-ball was fit into one of the faces of the
box, where half a ball is inside the box while the other half
is outside it, in the open. This was done in order to obtain
spherical detonation in a small box. The explosive-ball made
of two hemispheres of Composition B (60%RDX, 40% TNT;
p = 1.70 g/cm3), was 6.cm in diameter. The outer hemi-
sphere was molded with a hole to the center in which the
detonator was fit and sealed with plastic RDX. Below the
detonator a small PETN booster tablet was located. Into the
box a preweighted amount of the solid particles were injected
with the help of a stream of gas (oxygen or nitrogen, accord-
ing to the experiment). The gas was also flown into the box
through additional openings whose aim was to cause turbu-
lence and to prevent sedimentation of the solid particles in
the corners of the box. The turbulence also created a homo-
geneous dispersion of the solid particles. Fine feltz filters
enabled the flow of gas out of the box while keeping the
particles inside. The box’s experimental setting is presented
in Fig. 1.
PLAYWOOD WALL
Figure 1. Experimental arrangement of the b o x where the blast is
performed.
The solid particles used were bone charcoal of - 1 5 pm
made by Baker and Adamson Co., and aluminum fine pow-
der “grease-free quality” of -25 pm size. Two cameras were
used in different experiments in order to determine the blast
waves velocity. A Beckman and Whitley Model 189 framing
Propellants and Explosives 3, 109-1 15 (1978)
camera was used with a speed of about 300,000 f.p.s. The
second was a Cordin Model 194 BB rotating mirror, air driven
streak camera used with a speed of about 2 mm/ps.
Illumination of the event was done with a remote Argon
light bomb while reference marks were attached to the win-
dow ( 2 cm and 5 cm apart for frame and streak camera, re-
spectively).
For the streak experiments a blast mirror technique was
used to prevent additional exposure from the second revolu-
tion of the rotating mirror.
3. Computations
The theoretical description of the early expansion of
solid detonation products in a gaseous phase (up to 10 radii
of the original charge), is a difficult problem. At this stage
the detonation products expand abruptly and the ressure
and density of the gases changes by a factor of 10 . P
Since the analytical dependence of the isentropic power
factor n on the pressure and density is unknown neither the
equation of state for the detonation products, the analytical
results obtained in the past were quite far from the experi-
mental results.
Computational methods based on an energetic simulation
of the problem fit only for over 10 radii of expansion for
spherical explosions and 2 0 radii for cylindrical configura-
tions(’, *, 6, therefore they d o not fit to the range of our
investigation, which is within the first 10 radii.
The theoretical description of the development of deto-
nation products in a combustible two-phase media that con-
sists of a dispersed solid in a gas is even more complex be-
cause of the absorption or release of energy by the media
and also because of the general problematicity of a strong
shock wave travelling in a two-phase media.
Therefore to compare our experimental data with the
theory we chose a simple model presented recently by
Kozorezov and Sergeed69 7).It consists of the description of
expansion of the detonation products by a three-step isen-
trope. Some minor changes were made in the original sys-
tem as explained thereafter.
The principles of the method consist in dividing the area
of the sharp expansion of the detonation products into three
different regions, each with a different effective isentrope.
The first region which is very close to the original explosive
is defined by the isentrope coefficient of the explosive itself,
i.e. pvn = const.
The second is an in-between-region, and in the original
paper(@ it is called the “two-phase region”. I t is a region
where the density of detonation products changes from
values which are typical for solids to values typical for gases.
The isentropic coefficient here is a mean value between n
of the solid and of the gas. I t is denoted by k where
pvk = const. In the third region it is assumed the existence
of the ideal gas equation pv7 = const.
Two points LY and symbolize the transition boundary
between n and k and between k and y, respectively. The
boundary conditions at these points state the following:
Propellants and Explosives 3, 109-115 (19781
The velocity of the interface ux at the boundary between
the detonation products and the media is defined from the
condition of the velocity of the boundary region
where Ub is the velocity of the detonation products behind
the detonation front, and AU is the additional velocity de-
fined respectively:
(3)
where a is the speed of sound.
Integrating Eq. ( 3 ) using (1) and (2) gives an equation
for the calculation of the interface velocity between the
blast wave and the media(6). This equation is designed by
three sets, consisting of two equations each which enable to
calculate ux behind the blast wave as a function of the den-
sity in each of the three expansion regions of the detonation
products. These equations are defined in Ref. 7 and we men-
tion them here:
where p 1 <pp.
Ya + 1 Pa
The Propagation of Blasts from Solid Explosives 11 1
Do represents the detonation velocity of the explosive.
The radii belonging to the calculated points can be found
from
For any pl, equations (4-7) give the values of the inter-
face velocity, the pressure and the radius of the event.
The value of n was taken equal to 2.77 which is the proper
isentrope coefficient for “Composition B” with p = 1.7,
The transition parameters at points CY and 0 were chosen
according to numerical calculations of Kuznetsov and
Shvedod9) for RDX with p = 1.66. k was found according to
these Tables to be 1.65 for explosions in air. When a mix-
ture of suspendend particles are the ambient phase and the
particles being solid can penetrate to the k region the value of
k has to be diminished. k was taken as 1.25 for aluminum
J+
 112 Y . Oved, Sh. Eidelman and A. Burcat
particles suspended in oxygen and 1 . 2 0 for carbon particles
suspended in oxygen. pol was taken as 1.2 x 10" Pascal and
pp = 1.4 x 10' Pascal for explosion in suspended particles.
For explosions in air (experiments A l , A2) pa = 8.5 x lo9
Pascal and pp = 7 x lo7 Pascal. A parametric sensitivity study
has shown that the calculations are only slightly sensitive
t o changes of pa and pp values by factors of 1.5 which bring
those values well within agreement with the values of
Kuznetsovand Shvedod9) where pa = 10" Pascal and
pp = 10' Pascal.
1
1 ~ + ~ 2 2 1 7.?a,bl
1 a b
Propellants and Explosives 3, 109-115 (1978)
Because the calculation was done for each point separately
we found it more convenient to use the real value of 7
rather than the constant y as used by Kozorezov and
S e r g e d 6 , '). The effective isentrope of the gas was assumed
to be equal to y of air at the proper point and its values at
the respective temperatures and pressures were taken for the
different point from 7 Tables *).
The parameters for the two-phase combustible region
(oxygen containing combustible solids) were calculated
accordingly t o a homogeneous approximation where the
1
Figure 2. Frame photographs from ex-
periments A1 and C7.
(a) The expansion of detonation products
in air (Exp. A l )
(1) t = 0, (2) t = 29.8 p s , (3) t = 44.3 y s
(b) The expansion of detonation products
in a suspension of carbon particles in o x y -
gen (bxp. C7)
(1) t = 2.2 ps, ( 2 ) t = 22.2 ps,
( 3 ) t = 30.2 ps, (4) t = 44.2 ps.
Propellants and Explosives 3, 109-1 15 ( 1 9 7 8 ) The Propagation of Blasts from Solid Explosives 1 13

coefficient Y is taken as the changes of cp and cv of the

two-phase components assuming frozen conditions. The
values of Y were in the range of 1.14-1.25.
The shock waves velocity ahead of the interface is cal-
culated according to the relation for strong shock waves, i.e.,

The comparison of the calculations made through the

cited method with our experimental data was good for ex-
plosions in air, as was shown by Kozorezov and Sergeed’),
and we got additional compatibility with explosions in inert
two-phase media and explosion in combustible two-phase
media.
T
10 ps
4. Results and Discussion

Three kinds of experiments were performed, and they

-+
are presented in Table 1. Figure 3. The streak photograph
(A) Blasts of “Composition B” balls in air. of an explosion of a “Composite B”
(B) Blasts of “Composition B” balls in nitrogen containing ball in a suspension of carbon in
pure nitrogen.
carbon particles. (The second luminosity o n the
(C) Blasts of “Composition B” balls in oxygen containing upper part of the picture presents
carbon or aluminum particles. the reflection of the blast from the
box’s wall).
Table 1. Details of Blast Experiments Performed

Exp. Density Particles Particles Ambient Container Photo-

No. ofCom- Mass Gas Volume graphic
position B Method 300
Ig/cmZI [gl [liter]

A1 1.69 -~ .~ Air 16 Frame aA A

A2 1.688 - - Air 58 Streak

B3 1.689 Carbon 32.6 Nz 58.62 Streak
C4 1.73 Alumi- 12.0 0 2 16.4 Frame
num
C5 1.697 Alumi-
num
96.2 02 58.71 Streak
-
i”O
E
C6 1.70 Alumi- 96.0 02 58.2 Streak E
n um Y

Le
C7 1.74 Carbon 9.03 01 16.56 Frame
100
A1
A A2
In Figure 2 we show a few selected frames representing
the development of the blast in experiments A1 and C7. It .
x 83
CL
0 c5
can readily be seen that at its highest detectable dimensions A C6
the blast front in air is shattered while the blast front in the I I I I I v c7
carbon suspension in oxygen after equal time is smooth and 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80
=
I t tpS.1-
unshattered showing that the second front is being sustained
by an energy release process. The first luminous front is the Figure 4. R versus t as deduced from frame and streak experiments.
blast front while the second lighter front that appears in the
later pictures is caused by the interaction of the blast wave
with the box’s glass wall. Figure 3 shows the streak picture
of a similar experiment, B 3 . Here again the second luminous culated with a computer program by the method described
front that appears in the upper part of the picture is caused in the previous section.
by the interaction with the box’s wall. Figure 6 presents the shock velocity of carbon particles
Figure 4 presents the R versus t graph for all the experiments in pure nitrogen compared with the theoretical calculations.
in Table 1. This is the basic information gathered from the The experiments with suspended aluminum and carbon in
photographic record. oxygen are also plotted on this graph. (Experiments C5,
Figure 5 presents the shock velocity V versus r/rO for explo- C6 and C7).
sions in air. The shock velocity V was calculated by differenti- The two Figures 5 and 6 show that the two photographic
ating the graph 4. The values of Figure 4 were fit to a 6 term techniques coincide with their data for radii over 3 r h o . For
polynomial, the polynomial was differentiated and the values lower radii there is a high uncertainty factor about the exact
plotted in Figures 5 and 6. The theoretical values were cal- time of each frame which amounts to +2 microseconds.
 114 Y.Oved. Sh. Eidelman and A. Burcac Propellants and Explosives 3, 109-1 15 (1978)

far while k remains constant. To get better compatibility at

higher distance k should be varied as well as 7.
The calculations show a great difference in the pressure
values for the inert phase as compared to the combustible two
phase media. This is presented in Figure 7 . The subject has

2x18
Pa=1.2 x 10'0

Pp 1 1 . 4 x 1 0 8
n = 2.11
1.5~
10'

1.0 x 10'

1I I I I I I I I I I 0
t
-1
p=180 k=165

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 U
V
RIRo- cn
Figure 5. V the shock speed versus the undimensional radius for
a
a
Y
blast in air compared to calculated values.
a"
1 . 0 ~10'
1.0x106 I I I I I I
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
= 1 4 x 10' PASCAL RIRo-
Figure 7. Calculated values of pressure versus undimensional radius
for different blasts in air and suspensions of aluminium and carbon
particles.

not been investigated experimentally and Some effort will

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
-1 RI Ro-
Figure 6. V the shock speed versus the undimensional radius for
blasts in suspensions of aluminum and carbon.
Therefore the shock velocity at the initial stages cannot be
determined from frame pictures. This is done with greater
accuracy from the streak experiments, where R is defined
to f40 nanoseconds, which show a very high velocity at the
beginning (12 f 2 km/s), higher than the one reported in the
literature(').
The calculations performed are good up to r/rO = 10. Over
this value, the calculations fail as seen in Fig. 5 . This is pro-
bably due to the fact that region k cannot be stretched too
be done in the future to explore this parameter as well.
Finally we have to comment on the experiments in com-
bustible media. As seen in Figure 6 the experiments with
aluminum are all above the line of the calculated aluminum
in inert media. Unfortunately we were not yet able to ascer-
tain this curve experimentally since no experimental results
with aluminum particles in argon were obtained because of
high luminosity. Experiments C4 and C6 fit the calculated
theoretical line for aluminum in oxygen where k was taken
as 1.25 while the experiment C5 lies lower but higher than
the "inert" line calculation for aluminum; the same with
carbon. Experiment B 3 is well ascertained by the calcula-
tion (k = 1.65 in this case) and experiment C7 is well above
it and fits the calculated line (where k = 1.20).
The intuitive understanding of the process reasons that
the energy release in the two phase combustible media must
not affect the blast front because of differences in pressure
on both sides of the blast front. We have found however con-
tradictory evidence which can be explained only by the addi-
tion of energy from the combustible media to the front. The
solid particles that have a high density are probably able to
pass through the blast front and liberate energy within the
blast front. This does not happen in inert media as shown
by experiment B3, thus it cannot be explained by changes
of gasdynamic and thermodynamic nature.
But another effect is observed in Figure 6. The actual
experimental points of C4, C6 for aluminum and C7 for
carbon really start close to the calculated neutral line of
Propellants and Explosives 3, 115-118 (1978)
Overlag Chemie, GmbH, D-6940 Weinheim, 1978
C + N2 and A1 + Ar and with the increase of radius they
move toward the C + O2 and A1 + 0 2 .The experimental
points coincide with the calculated C + O2 and A1 + O2 line
for r/rO > 3 . 5 , which confirms the idea that the solid com-
bustible particles of A1 or C penetrate the blast waves’ inter-
face and when the distance is 3 . 5 r/rO the maximal energy
of those solid particle’s combustion is transmitted to the
blast wave interface.
We have, however, t o be cautious and to mention that
our evidence is based on a limited number of experiments
and therefore more experiments will be made in the future
in order to get additional support and better understanding
of the process.
5 . References
(1) F. A. Baum et al., “The Physics of Explosion”edited by Stanyu-
kovich, “Nauka”, Moskva 1975.
Mach-Reflection of Detonation Waves in Condensed High Explosives
F. Miiller
Physikalisches Institut I der Universitat Diisseldorf, D-4000 Diisseldorf (Germany)
Mach-Reflexion von Detonationswellen in festen Sprengstoffen
In einer zylinderformigen Anordnung, die von G. R. Fowles und
W. M. Isbell zur Erzeugung der Mach-Reflexion von StoRwellen in
Festkorpern angegeben wurde, wird die Mach-Reflexion von Detona-
tionswellen in festen Sprengstoffen mit unterschiedlicher Detonations-
geschwindigkeit untersucht. Der Vorgang wird uber Rontgenblitz-
photographie direkt beobachtet. In der angegebenen Anordnung laRt
sich uber die Mach-Reflexion eine ebene Detonationswelle, der ,,Mach-
disk“, erzeugen. Eigenschaften und Anwendungen des ,,Mach-disk“
werden diskutiert.
Summary
In a cylindrical arrangement as deviced by G. R. Fowles and
W. M. Isbell for the generation of Mach-reflection of shock waves in
solids Mach-reflection of detonation waves in condensed high explo-
sives with different detonation velocities is investigated. The process
is observed directly by flash x-ray radiography. By means of this
arrangement it is possible to generate via Mach-reflection a plane
detonation wave, the Mach-disk. Characteristics and applications of
the Mach-disk are discussed.
1. Introduction
Mach-reflection of detonation waves is explored by some
experimental and theoretical works(’). In experimental tests
115
G. F. Kinney, Explosive Shocks tn Air, McMillan Co., New York
1962.
W. A. Strauss, AZAA J . 6, 1753 (1968).
M. A. Nettelton and R. Stirling, Combustion and Flame, 2 2 ,
407 (1974).
S. Wojcicki and M. Zalesinski, “Recent Development in Sbock-
Tube Research”, Ed. D. Bershader and W.Griffith, 9th Shock-
Tube Symposium, Stanford (1973). p. 821.
K. I.Kozorezov and V V. Sergeev, Fzz. Goreniya Vzryva, 11, 102
(1975), [or Combust. Explos. Shock Waves (USSR) p. 891.
K. I. Kozorezov and V. V. Sergeev, Fiz. Goreniya V z y v a , 1 1 , 928
(1975). [or Combust. Explos. Shock Waves (USSR) p. 7891.
A. S. Predvoditelev et al., “Tables of Thermodynamic Functions
of Air, 6000-12000 K , 0.001-1000 atm”, Infosearch, London
1958.
N. M. Kuznetsov and K. K. Shvedov, Fiz. Goreniya V z y v a , 2,
(4)85 (1966). [or Combust. Explos. Shock Waves (USSR) p. 521.
(Received October 5, 1977)
RCflexion de Mach des ondes de dCtonation dans les explosifs solides
On a Ctudii la reflexion de Mach des ondes de detonation dans
des explosifs solides B diffirentes vitesses de dktonation en utilisant
le montage cylindrique proposC par G. R . Fowles et W. M. Isbell pour
engendrer des reflexions de Mach des ondes de choc dans les solides.
Le phinomkne a it6 directement observe par radiographie-Cclair.
Avec le montage utilisC, la reflexion de Mach donne naissance A une
onde de detonation plane appelie cldisque de Machn. On examine
les propriCt6s et les possibilitb dapplication de ce ndisque de Machu.
normally plane arrangements are applied. In order to proof
the generation of Mach-reflection the marks of Mach-waves
are observed on metal or the Mach-wave coming
from the high explosive is coupled to a transparent medium
(e.g. plexiglass) and then observed by optical
E. A. Feoktistova(6) has carried out experiments on the
interaction of detonation waves in solid high explosives. For
an unspecified explosive the critical angle is determined at
which Mach-reflection appears. Theoretical considerations
to describe the formation of Mach-reflection in condensed
explosives are given by all experimentators; however, in no
case tbe were convincingly verified by experimental
y,
tests(’ - 7 ) .