Initiation and energy release characteristics studies on polymer bonded explosive materials under high speed impact

•A modified projectile filled with polymer bonded explosive materials was specially designed.•The impact pressure has a significant effect on energy release behavior.•Both the critical pressure of initiation and maximum reaction efficiency were obtained.•The theoretical analysis was explored to analyze the energy release behavior.

In this paper, a test projectile with a recessed hole and an initially sealed vented test chamber were designed to investigate the impact initiation and energy release characteristics of the polymer bonded explosive (PBX) materials. Through a thin aluminum cover plate, the test projectile filled with PBX materials was launched into an infinitely rigid impact anvil on the interior. As the initiation takes place on the interior, great amounts of thermo-chemical energy gases were vented through a hole formed by the penetration process. The maximum pressure inside the chamber was used to evaluate the initiation characteristic of PBX materials. The experimental results suggest that the impact pressure has a significant effect on the initiation characteristic and reaction efficiency. It reveals the critical impact-initiated pressure and critical impact pressure of the maximum reaction efficiency. Combining with the theoretical analysis, a relationship between the maximum pressure and the energy deposited into gas inside the chamber is explored to analyze the energy release behavior.