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Updated: Oct 17, 2025

10:33
Research and Development of High-performance Explosives
Published on: February 20, 2016
17.8K
Predicting the impact sensitivity of a polymorphic high explosive: the curious case of FOX-7
Adam A L Michalchuk1, Svemir Rudić2, Colin R Pulham3
1Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing (BAM), Richard Wilstaetter Str 11, 12489, Berlin, Germany. adam.michalchuk@bam.de.
Abstract:
The impact sensitivity (IS) of FOX-7 polymorphs is predicted by phonon up-pumping to decrease as layers of FOX-7 molecules flatten. Experimental validation proved anomalous owing to a phase transition during testing, raising questions regarding impact sensitivity measurement and highlighting the need for models to predict IS of polymorphic energetic materials.

