A practical comparative investigation of Bruceton and 3POD2.0 statistical testing methods on friction and impact sensitivity testing

There are multiple different equipment and testing methods to perform sensitivity tests and to determine probabilities and stimulus values for sensitivity of energetic materials. In this study a Bruceton and Three-Phase Optimal Design (3POD2.0), implemented in gonogo software, statistical testing methods were compared in practice by using them to determine impact and friction sensitivity of selected energetic materials. With Bruceton method 50% of the impact sensitivity and 27% of the friction sensitivity test series had to be discarded, due to too high or low s/d ratio. With 3POD2.0 0% of impact and 18% of friction test series had to be discarded, due to an error produced by the gonogo software. The number of individual tests that had to be discarded was much lower with 3POD2.0, since the gonogo software terminates the test process at early phase, while with Bruceton the test series most often must be finished before the validity of results can be assessed. Based on these results and literary reviews it can be concluded that 3POD2.0 is a suitable replacement for Bruceton to determine 50% initiation probability, while additionally gaining the entire sensitivity curve, resulting in fewer futile tests and less wasted resources.