Unlocking the Mysteries of High-Explosive Science

Lara Leininger | 18-SI-004

Executive Summary

This field-expanding research is developing and employing diagnostics to capture, quantify, and characterize the physics and chemistry of insensitive high explosives in situ during reaction to gain previously unobtainable data to validate predictive computational models. The results will provide significant new capabilities to carry out stockpile stewardship activities and nuclear weapons detection and interdiction technologies for non-proliferation and counterterrorism.

Publications, Presentations, and Patents

Austin, R., et al. 2020. "High explosive modeling at LLNL: grain-scale and atomistic efforts.” LLNL-PRES-790077

Bassett, W., et al. 2020. "Hot Spot Chemistry in Several Polymer-bound Explosives under Nanosecond Shock Conditions.” Propellants, Explosives, and Pyrotechnics. doi:10.1002/prep.201900249. LLNL-JRNL-781687

Grivickas, P., et al. 2020. "Search for an elastic-plastic transition in single-crystal TATB using a laser drive.” LLNL-PRES-778158

Hamilton, B., et al. 2020a. "A Hotspot's Better Half: A Characterization of the Local Potential Energy Rise in Mechanically Induced Hotspots.” American Physical Society Meeting, March 2020. LLNL-ABS-794457

——— 2020b. "Atomistic Predictions for Reaction Mechanisms, Kinetics, and Detonation Properties of the Insensitive Explosive LLM-105.” LLNL-POST-805626

Kroonblawd, M. and L. Fried, 2020. "Hot Spot Ignition through Shear Banding in TATB Single Crystals Shocked to Detonation Pressures.” Physical Review Letters (online). doi10.1103/physrevlett.124.206002. LLNL-JRNL-795742

Leininger, L. 2020. "Shock Hugoniot measurements of single-crystal 1,3,5-triamino-2,4,6-trinitrobenzene (TATB) compressed to 83GPa.” J. Appl. Phys. 127. LLNL-JRNL-805330

Nelms, M., et al. 2020a. "Energy localization in shock-compressed TATB bicrystals.” LLNL-PRES-770910

——— 2020b. "Pore collapse in shock-compressed TATB single crystals.” LLNL-PRES-777682

——— 2020c. "Pore collapse in single-crystal TATB under shock compression.” 21st Biennial Conference of the APS Topical Group on Shock Compression of Condensed Matter. LLNL-CONF-784800

——— 2020d. "Probing the elastic-plastic behavior of single-crystal TATB using the Jupiter Laser Facility.” LLNL-PRES-767923

Stavrou, E., et al. 2020. "Detonation-induced transformation of graphite to hexagonal diamond.” Physical Review B,102, 104116. doi:10.1103/PhysRevB.102.104116. LLNL-JRNL-812742.

Steele, B., et al. 2020a. "Pressure-induced phase transition in Triaminotrinitrobenzene.” Applied Physics Letters 114, 191901. LLNL-JRNL-765599

——— 2020b. "The High Pressure Equation of State of TATB: Insights on the Monoclinic Phase Transition, Hydrogen Bonding, and Anharmonicity.” The Journal of Physical Chemistry A 124, 50, 10589-10591. LLNL-JRNL-815442