Shock initiation of detonation in a mixture of gelled nitromethane with microballoons

Using a multichannel laser interferometer, a series of experiments with recording of particle velocity profiles have been carried out to determine the dynamics of shock initiation of detonation in the mixtures of nitromethane with microballoons, which are heterogeneous explosives with a controlled charge structure. It is shown that the addition of 5–8 wt.% microballoons to nitromethane reduces the shock wave amplitude required to initiate detonation by almost an order of magnitude. At 8 wt.% of microballoons, depending on the initiation conditions, the realization of both steady Chapman-Jouguet detonation and weak detonation is observed.