Laser initiation of low-density mixtures of PETN with metal additives

This paper presents data on laser initiation of low-density mixtures of PETN with metal additives with varying dispersity of PETN and particle size of the additive. A laser with a wavelength of 1.06 μm and a pulse length of 40 and 30 ns was used. Curves of the threshold initiation parameters on the additive content are shown to have minima. For coarse additives, no significant dependence of the initiation threshold of the mixtures on the nature of the metal at its optimal content (except for aluminum) was observed. For PETN mixtures with an optimal amount of fine aluminum, a significantly greater (a factor of 6.2) decrease in the threshold initiation parameters compared to direct initiation of PETN was found. It is shown that the initiation thresholds of the mixtures do not depend on the dispersity of PETN with the optimal additive content. Increasing the dispersity of PETN extends the dependences of the threshold parameters on the additive content while the optimal additive content is shifted to higher values. The initiation thresholds are found to strongly depend on the density of the mixture charge. The key points of the mechanism of laser initiation of PETN mixtures with additives are formulated.