ABSTRACT
A fuze may be exposed to extreme thermal environments during its life cycle, such as high temperature resulting from burning of leaked fuel, or accidental deflagration (or explosion) of shells. It is essential to study the response of fuzes under cook-off conditions to reduce possible economic loss and casualties. Cook-off tests are an important experimental method to test and evaluate the thermal sensitivity of shells and fuzes at present, and extensive research has been done on the subject. However, it is not economical to conduct many experiments in the early stage of product development due to high cost and risk. Herein, numerical simulations are conducted to analyze the response of a fuze to cook-off. Thermal-decomposition models for HMX- and TATB-based polymer-bonded explosives proposed by Tarver are applied in the numerical models. In addition, the influence of various factors on simulation results, such as heating rate, package of the fuze, type of high explosives within the fuze is analyzed quantitatively. The law is summarized and can be used for future development of similar products.