Comparison of Reaction Kinetics of I-RDX® and RDX at High Pressure.

Reactions and kinetics of the new less-sensitive form of RDX developed by Eurenco (known as I-RDX®) need to be compared to standard RDX, especially at shock pressures and temperatures. To evaluate the effect of pressure samples of I-RDX® and standard RDX were compressed to various static pressures in anvil cells. To evaluate the effect of temperature samples were initiated with different fluences of a 5ns pulsed Nd:YAG laser. As a measure of global reaction rate, changes in transmittance through the samples were monitored during reaction. Both RDX and I-RDX® were initially transparent under pressure, becoming opaque soon after initiation and then clear as the final gaseous products are formed. A comparison of the global reaction times obtained under various pressure and fluence conditions for I-RDX® and RDX samples are presented. © 2006 American Institute of Physics [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]