Preface to the First Edition

Since the synthesis and development of new energetic materials require the identification of promising candidates for additional study and the elimination of unsuitable candidates from further consideration, it is important for engineers, scientists, and industry to be able to predict the performance of new compounds in order to reduce the costs associated with the synthesis, testing, and evaluation of these materials. Nowadays different approaches have been used to predict the performance of energetic compounds which have proven to be cost-effective, environmentally-friendly, and time-saving approaches. This book reviews different methods for the assessment of the performance of an energetic compound through its heat of detonation, detonation pressure, detonation velocity, detonation temperature, Gurney energy, and power (strength). It also focuses on the detonation pressure and detonation velocity of nonideal aluminized energetic compounds. Simple and reliable methods are demonstrated in detail which can be easily used for the design, synthesis, and development of novel energetic compounds.