Detonation of Liquid Explosives by Impact

ALTHOUGH a considerable amount of experimental work has been done on the impact sensitivity of liquid explosives, the mechanism of initiation by mechanical shock is not fully understood. Furthermore, the values for sensitivity obtained by different workers showed marked variations. With nitroglycerine, for example, the figures quoted range from 14,000 gm. cm.^1,2,3 down to 500 gm. cm. (sensitivity given as the product of mass of striker in gm. multiplied by height of fall in cm.). An attempt has been made to investigate in more detail the physical processes which occur during impact, and to study the mechanism of the initiation and growth of explosion^4,5.