A CREST reactive burn model for LX-14

CREST is an entropy-dependent reactive burn model that has had considerable success in modeling a wide range of shock initiation and detonation behavior in explosives [1]. This paper will describe the development and initial testing of a CREST model for the HMX-based explosive LX-14, for which a suite of gas-gun data have become available in recent years [2,3]. The new model has been calibrated to a sub-set of the available data using a semi-automatic method consistent with other recent CREST models, and the fit to the calibration data for LX-14 is universally good. It will be shown that CREST accurately predicts the behavior of nominal-density LX-14 in experiments [3,4] but, consistent with other reactive burn models, it fails to match the low-density gas gun data. Possible ways to improve the reaction rate in future will be discussed.

[1] Handley et al, Appl. Phys. Rev. 5, 011303 (2018)

[2] J. D. Jones et al, AIP Conference Proceedings 1979, 100022 (2018)

[3] K. S. Vandersall et al, AIP Conference Proceedings 1979, 100045 (2018)

[4] C. M. Tarver et al, Propellants, Explosives, Pyrotechnics 21, 238-246 (1996)