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For a fine emulsion explosive, the dependence of the detonation velocity D on the cylindrical-charge diameter d and plane-layer thickness Δ is determined. It is shown that the emulsion explosive considered has low values of the critical diameter (d cr ≈ 5 mm) and thickness (Δ cr ≈ 2 mm). According to curved front theory, the relation D(d) ≈ D(2Δ) is valid and the ratio d cr /Δ cr is 2.4-2.5.

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Measurements using Velocity Interferometer System for Any Reflector (VISAR) were performed for three high explosives at densities slightly above the natural loose-packed densities. The velocity histories at the explosive/window interface demonstrate that the grain size of the explosives plays an important role. Fine-grained materials produced rather smooth records with reduced von Neumann spike amplitudes. For commercial coarse-grained specimens, the chemical spike (if detectable) was more pronounced. This difference can be explained as a manifestation of partial burn up. In fine-grained explosives, which are more sensitive, the reaction can proceed partly within the compression front, which leads to a lower initial shock amplitude. The reaction zone was shorter in fine-grained materials because of higher density of hot spots. The noise level was generally higher for the coarse-grained explosives, which is a natural stochastic effect of the highly non-uniform flow of the heterogeneous medium. These results correlate with our previous data of electrical conductivity diagnostics. Instead of the classical Zel'dovich–von Neumann–Döring profiles, violent oscillations around the Chapman–Jouguet level were observed in about half of the shots using coarse-grained materials. We suggest that these unusual records may point to a different detonation wave propagation mechanism.