Measurement of the Chapman-Jouguet Pressure and Reaction Zone Length in a Detonating High Explosive

Abstract

The Chapman‐Jouguet pressure and the reaction zone length in detonating Composition B containing 63 percent RDX at a density of 1.67 g/cc have been measured by determining the initial free surface velocity imparted to aluminum plates as a function of plate thickness. The C‐J pressure is 0.272 megabar and the reaction zone length is 0.13 mm. The experimental free surface velocity‐plate thickness curve provides powerful confirmation for the pressure profile in a detonating explosive predicted by the hydrodynamic theory of detonation proposed by Zeldovich, von Neumann, and Doring.