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Chapman-Jouguet (CJ) Condition

Definition

The steady-state condition in a detonating explosive at which the coupled shock and reaction zone travel at the same velocity (the detonation velocity, VoD); the CJ pressure and velocity are characteristic of each explosive formulation.

Related terms

Brisance
The shattering power of a detonating explosive, distinct from heave (bulk displacement). Measured by the Trauzl lead block test. High-brisance explosives (RDX,...
Deflagration-to-Detonation Transition (DDT)
The acceleration of a deflagrating burn front to supersonic detonation velocity, triggered by confinement. Relevant to understanding how improvised devices using low...
DMDNB Taggant
Dimethyldinitrobutane, a detection marker incorporated into plastic explosives (including Semtex) under the ICAO 1991 Convention on the Marking of Plastic Explosives; allows...
Dynamic Pressure
The pressure component due to mass flow of gas behind the shock front, proportional to gas velocity squared; the blast wind that...
Friedlander Waveform
The idealised time-pressure history at a point in air following a blast: instantaneous rise to peak overpressure at shock arrival, exponential decay...
Hopkinson-Cranz Scaling
The law relating peak overpressure and positive-phase duration to the ratio of range to cube-root-of-charge-mass (the scaled distance Z = R /...
Mach Stem
The reinforced shock front that forms near a reflective surface when the direct blast wave and its reflected wave merge, producing anomalously...
Mott Formula
An empirical relationship, derived from wartime UK research by N.F. Mott, predicting the statistical distribution of fragment masses from a metal casing...
Peak Static Overpressure (Ps)
The maximum pressure increase above ambient at the shock front, the primary structural damage parameter, scaling with the inverse cube root of...

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