Strategies for understanding the deflagration-to-detonation transition

The deflagration-to-detonation (DDT) phenomenon has been studied for many years. However, no comprehensive model of the DDT process is available. It is important to understand the mechanism by which an explosive will detonate when the source of ignition is a weak shock or flame, and to able to predict this response. We have identified several key areas of the DDT problem which need to be understood before any such prediction can be made, and have established a modest program to obtain a more fundamental understanding of the behavior of explosive under the conditions that can lead to DDT