Journal
JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL PHYSICS
Volume 138, Issue 7, Pages -Publisher
AMER INST PHYSICS
DOI: 10.1063/1.4790637
Keywords
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Funding
- Department of the Army Program [0601102A H44 06]
- Department of Defense/Army High Performance Computing Modernization Program for Multi-scale Reactive Modeling of Insensitive Munitions Software Applications Institute
- Oak Ridge Affiliated Universities (ORAU) in Maryland .U.S. [W911QX-04-C-0129]
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We evaluate whether lattice or internal phonons dominate the thermal excitation of the N-N bonds in alpha-cyclotrimethylene trinitramine (alpha-RDX) by computing the fractional contributions of phonon modes to the excitation of all atomic interactions. We derive a method to compute these contributions, which we call mode energy fractions, from the phonon eigenvectors and a splitting of the dynamical matrix. This enables identification of phonon modes that most strongly excite the N-N bonds that play a key role in molecular decomposition of alpha-RDX. Correlating these fractions with the mode populations and contributions to the specific heat and thermal conductivity, we analyze how thermal energy is distributed by phonons following a passing shock. Contrary to the common explanation that thermal energy is transferred to the N-N bonds indirectly, by internal phonons, we find that lattice phonons dominate this thermal energy transfer, implying that energy flow follows a direct route. We also comment on implications of these results for non-shock decomposition of alpha-RDX. [http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.4790637]
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