Detonation performance of urea hydrogen peroxide

Carbamide Peroxide is commonly used in the cosmetic and pharmaceutical industries as a solid source of hydrogen peroxide. This adduct of Urea and Hydrogen Peroxide (UHP) has explosive properties, which have been only recently studied, highlighting its behaviour of non-ideal tertiary explosive and detonability at large scale. Our work focussed on investigating UHP detonability in the 100 g-scale. A maximum of experimental data, collected from combining laboratory and underwater measurement campaigns, is required to evaluate the detonation performance of non-ideal explosives. Our lab results confirmed self-sustained detonation under heavy confinement, with observed detonation velocities consistent with literature values from large-scale field experiments. We further fired UHP charges underwater and quantified brisance and explosive power respectively from underwater shock pressure and bubble period. By comparing experimental results and numerical simulations, we could assess the level of agreement between lab and underwater detonation performance parameters.