Real-time analysis of the detonation products of RDX

Abstract We have obtained the mass spectrum of the products of detonation from RDX. It was obtained by sampling the freely expanding gases following the detonation of the explosive in vacuum. The time evolution of the products was measured and thereby also the molecular velocities of the species. At the threshold of ion arrival, almost ail of the molecules had a common velocity, 8.8 km/s. The spectrum was dominated in intensity by H2O (ions at M=17,18), followed by important transient species HNCO and NCO. Also we found that the more stable molecules HCN, N2, and CO had significant intensity. We compare our spectrum with the products found from other studies, such as thermal decomposition, laser ionization mass spectrometry, and the detonation products from detonation under conditions close to equilibrium.