Shock initiation and ramp loading of Pentaerythritol tetranitrate at 1.65 g/cc.

A range of shock initiation experiments have been carried out to study the shock sensitivity and develop the unreacted equation of state for PETN (Pentaerythritol tetranitrate) pressed to a density of 1.65 g/cc. The shock experiments were carried out at the Chamber 9 single and two-stage gas guns at the Los Alamos National Laboratory and the ramp loading experiment was undertaken at the Sandia National Laboratories’ Z Machine. The set of five shock experiments covered sustained shock pressures up to 6 GPa, with an additional three experiments in the overdriven regime. The ramp loading experiment provides continuous reactants equation of state data up to a pressure of 30 GPa. 

 

These experiments were diagnosed using both Photon Doppler Velocimetry (PDV) and VISAR (Velocity Interferometer System for Any Reflector) optical diagnostics. Comparison has been made to the previously studied 1.60 g/cc and 1.72 g/cc pressed PETN both in terms of the reactivity of the explosives, and also the measured reactants equation of states. Additionally, the experimental data will be compared to the results of the WSD continuum detonation performance model. Wave profiles will be presented, along with a discussion of the unreacted Hugoniot and relative sensitivities presented in the Pop plot.