Combustion of TNT products in a confined explosion

The effects of turbulent combustion of detonation products gases in a confined explosion are explored via laboratory experiments and high-resolution numerical simulations. The expanded products from the detonation of a TNT charge are rich in C and CO, which act as a fuel. When these hot gases mix with air, they are oxidized to CO2--thereby releasing 2482 Cal/g in addition to the 1093 Cal/g deposited by the detonation wave. In this case, the exothermic power is controlled by the turbulent mixing rate, rather than by chemistry. A kinetic law of turbulent combustion is suggested for this process. Pressure histories from the numerical simulations were in good agreement with the experimental measurements--demonstrating that the numerical model contains the fundamental mechanism that controls the exothermic process