Simulations reveal microscopic hot-spot formation in high explosives

When high explosives are subjected to sudden shock waves, such as from an impact or detonation, tiny regions of intense heat—called hot spots—form at microstructural defects such as pores. These hot spots play a critical role in determining whether the explosive will initiate and fully detonate. Understanding how hot spots form and behave across length scales is key to developing predictive models for the safety and performance of explosives used in defense, mining and other applications.

source https://phys.org/news/2025-04-simulations-reveal-microscopic-hot-formation.html