High electrical conductivity of trotyl detonation products

Abstract

A new measurement scheme makes it possible to study the conductivity of detonation products of condensed explosives with a time resolution of about 10 ns. Experiments with cast trotyl show that conduction under detonation is a complex phenomenon associated with the chemical reaction zone and the expansion of the reaction products. The time variation of the electrical conductivity has a sharp peak (≈250 Ω −1 cm −1 ) and a plateau (≈35 Ω −1 cm −1 ). The peak corresponds to the highest conductivity value that has been ever observed for the products of chemical explosive detonation. The results support the validity of the contact method for measuring the detonation conductivity of trotyl.