Investigation of the cook-off processes of HMX-based mixed explosives

In order to investigate the characteristics of the thermal reaction for two kinds of mixed explosives, PBXC-10 (HMX/TATB/Binder, 38/57/5) and JO-8 (HMX/Binder, 95/5), multi-point measured temperature cook-off tests were carried out at different heating rates. The thermal transfer and finite chemical reactions that include the β→δ transition of HMX, and the endothermic and exothermic cook-off processes were analyzed. A 3D model of the explosive cook-off test was developed to simulate the thermal and chemical behaviour in a thermal ignition. The decomposition mechanisms for HMX and TATB are described by the multistep, chemical kinetic model. The thermal properties, decomposition pathways, and chemical kinetic reaction rate constants for each component are used to develop the reaction courses at various weight percentages. The thermal decomposition reaction of a multi-component, mixed explosive can be predicted as long as the chemical kinetics model of each single-base explosive and binder are known. The phase transition of HMX has an influence on the temperature of the explosive, especially for an explosive with a high HMX content. For mixed explosives containing HMX and TATB, most of the heat release is produced by the decomposition of HMX before ignition, but TATB can delay the ignition time and decrease the reaction violence in the cook-off process.