COMPUTATIONAL CHEMISTRY EMPLOYMENT IN VERIFICATION AND VALIDATION OF DETONATION PRESSURE OF PLASTIC EXPLOSIVE - PBX

Prediction of chemical explosions parameters is an important step for blast tests for civil and military applications. Applying computational chemistry and experimental results, this paper presents the decay rate of pressure in air from the epicenter of 2.70 kg of PBX-Plastic bonded explosive detonation to the distance of 2.0 meters. Pressure in the epicenter was calculated using reactive molecular dynamics simulations and the incident pressure at 1.3; 1.6 and 2.0 meters were measured with piezoelectric pressure sensors. The explosive for the full-scale test were non-confined in a cylindrical shape. Results of simulation and recorded values were consolidated and the rate of pressure decay was verified by statistic regression. Good agreement was verified between computational and experimental pressures data. This research can help designers to prepare protection devices in test areas, storages of explosives or important buildings for military proposes.