Two-dimensional mesoscale discrete element simulation of shock response of explosives

Shock response of plastic bonded explosives were simulated at the grain scale using the discrete element method. The mesoscopic structures of explosives were created based on the Voronoi tessellation. Through simulations on explosives with and without a pore inside, the important impact of mesoscopic structure on the formation and distribution of hot spots was demonstrated. In these sample calculations, it is found that the temperature localization is mainly due to visco-plastic deformation whereas the mechanisms of friction and bulk viscosity can be ignored.