Unlocking the Mysteries of High-Explosive Science

Lara Leininger | 18-SI-004

Executive Summary

The goal of this field-expanding research is to develop and employ diagnostics capturing, quantifying, and characterizing the temperature and chemistry of high explosives in situ during reaction to gain necessary data to create a unified, predictive, computational model. The results will dramatically impact stockpile stewardship activities and nuclear weapons detection and interdiction technologies for non-proliferation and counterterrorism.

Publications, Presentations, Etc.

Bassett, W. 2019. "Hot Spot Temperatures in Several PBXs: A Look into the Reaction Zone." SCCM 2019. LLNL-PRES-778157.

Bassett, W., et al. 2019. "Shock Initiation Under the Microscope." 2019 SCCM. LLNL-PRES-754185.

––– . 2019. "Hot-Spot Generation and Growth in Shocked Plastic-bonded Explosives Studied By Optical Pyrometry." Journal of Applied Physics , 125, 215904. LLNL-JRNL-777438.

––– . 2019. "Optical Pyrometry of Shock-induced Hot Spots in Plastic-bonded Triaminotrinitrobenzene." Applied Physics Letters , 114, 194101. LLNL-JRNL-767687.

––– . 2019."Pyrometry in the Reaction Zone of PETN- and RDX-based Polymer Bound Explosives." 21st Biennial Conference of the APS Topical Group on Shock Compression of Condensed Matter (SHOCK19). LLNL-PROC-782256.

Dlott, D., et al. 2019. "Shock Compression Microscopy: Shocked Materials with High Time and Space Resolution." 21st Biennial Conference of the APS Topical Group on Shock Compression of Condensed Matter (SHOCK19). LLNL-ABS-768172 and LLNL-PROC-782266.

Fernnadez-Panella, A., et al. 2019. "Laser-Driven Shock-Compressed Hugoniot of TATB up to 100 GPa." SCCM Conference. LLNL-ABS-768680.

Grivickas, P. et al. 2019. "Search for an Elastic-plastic Transition in Single-crystal TATB Using a Laser Drive." 21st Biennial Conference of the APS Topical Group on Shock Compression of Condensed Matter (SHOCK19). LLNL-ABS-768654 and LLNL-PRES-778158.

Hamilton, B., et al. 2019. "Nuclear Quantum Effects and their Role in Shock Induced Chemical Initiation of TATB." 21st Biennial Conference of the APS Topical Group on Shock Compression of Condensed Matter (SHOCK19). LLNL-ABS-768122 and LLNL-PRES-777680.

––– . 2019. "Sensitivity of the Shock Initiation Threshold of 1,3,5-Triamino-2,4,6-trinitrobenzene (TATB) to Nuclear Quantum Effects." Journal of Physical Chemistry C , 123, 21969. LLNL-JRNL-772406.

Marshall, M., et al. 2019. "Exploring Chemical Reaction and the Equation of State of Energetic Materials at High-Energy-Density Conditions." 11th Annual Omega Laser Users Group Meeting. LLNL-POST-772477.

Steele, B. 2019. "High Pressure Chemistry as a Route Toward Novel Energetic Materials Using First Principles Crystal Structure Prediction." 21st Biennial Conference of the APS Topical Group on Shock Compression of Condensed Matter (SHOCK19). LLNL-PRES-778097.

Steele, B. and I. Kuo. 2019. "Probing Equations of State and Novel Phases of Energetic Crystals via First Principles Simulations." APS March Meeting. LLNL-PRES-768357.

Steele, B., et al. 2019. "Pressure-Induced Phase Transition in Triaminotrinitrobenzene." Applied Physics Letters , 114, 191901. LLNL-JRNL-765599.

Willey, T. 2018. "Observing Formation of Detonation Nanodiamond and Other Novel Carbon Nanostructures at Sub-Microsecond Timescales." American Vacuum Society Conference, October 2018. LLNL-POST-793733.

––– . 2019. "Frontiers in Experimental Observations of Detonation Properties with X-rays." APS Topical Group on Shock Compression of Condensed Matter. LLNL-ABS-768202.

––– . 2019. "New Frontiers in Experimentally Observing Detonation Properties." Propellants, Explosives, Pyrotechnics , 44, 259. LLNL-JRNL-758736.