Chemical reaction initiation and hot-spot formation in shocked energetic molecular materials

A theoretical model is developcd to describe the nature of molecular energy transfer and chemical reactivity in shocked energetic materials. The intent is to develop a fundamental understanding of the sensitivity of secondary explosives, which are solids consisting of large organic molceules. Because secondary explosives are stable molecules with large barriers to chemical reaction, before reactions can occur, a sizable amount of energy must be transferred from the shock produced phonons to the molecules' internal vibrations by multiphonon up-pumping.