Shock initiation of detonation in nitromethane

The processes involved in the initiation of nitromethane (NM) have been the subject of many experiments and theoretical studies. These studies generally support the classical homogeneous model though some details of the buildup process are still controversial. In order to clarify these points, we have performed plate impact experiments to study the initiation of NM under conditions of steady one dimensional strain, for shock pressures ranging from 8.5 to 12 GPa. A six wavelength optical pyrometer, with 3 ns rise-time and a temperature range of 1500-6000 K, was used to determine the temperature during shock-to-detonation transition. A Fabry-Perot interferometer with a capacitor transducer and piezoelectric pins were also used to analyse the temperature profiles and to determine the sequence of events during the initiation process. According to our experimental results, it seems that, unlike Campbell et al. assumptions, the superdetonation does not start at the plate/NM interface, but at a run distance inside the NM depending on the shock level.