A Transition from a Microscopic to a Macroscopic Approach to Steady State Detonation

Abstract
Recent efforts to understand initiation of reaction in crystalline explosives on the microscopic level during shock or impact have been extended to the macroscopic case. This allows a different approach to the detonation problem. The initiation portion of the detonation wave is determined and when combined with the reaction zone length completely specifies the detonation wave. Detonation in an unconfined cylinderical charge is treated. This approach should have general application beyond the narrow confines of detonation in predicting the initiation response of crystalline explosives to any arbitrary shock or impact.