Characterisation of the impact response of energetic materials: observation of a low-level reaction in 2,6-diamino-3,5-dinitropyrazine-1-oxide (LLM-105)

Abstract

Time-resolved and integrated diagnostics including high-speed photography, mass and optical spectroscopy, and optical-radiometry were used to study the impact response of high explosives in substantially more detail than possible with conventional sensitiveness tests. Specifically, we compare pentaerythritol tetranitrate (PETN) and cyclotetramethylene tetranitramine (HMX), with 2,6-diamino-3,5-dinitropyrazine-1-oxide (LLM-105), the latter of which is currently receiving a great deal of interest as a promising insensitive high explosive. We conclude that under modest impact conditions, LLM-105 can undergo a low-level reaction whose characteristics explain apparently contradictory sensitiveness results obtained using standard tests. Our results demonstrate how more sophisticated diagnostics with large dynamic ranges, can quantify the hazard response of energetic materials in detail, enabling complex behaviour to be distinguished.