Sensitivity (explosives)

In explosives engineering, sensitivity refers to the degree to which an explosive can be initiated by impact, heat, or friction.^[1] Current in-use standard methods of mechanical (impact and friction) sensitivity determination differ by the sample preparation (constant mass or volume is usually used; pile or pressed pellet), sample arrangement (confined/unconfined sample etc), instrument type, go/not go criteria, and the statistical analysis of results.^[2]

Sensitivity, stability and brisance are three of the most significant properties of explosives that affect their use and application. All explosive compounds have a certain amount of energy required to initiate, analogous to the minimum ignition energy of fuel-air mixtures. If an explosive is too sensitive, it may go off accidentally. A safer explosive is less sensitive and will not explode if accidentally dropped or mishandled. However, such explosives are more difficult to initiate intentionally.