Particle Swarm Optimization of Kinetic Parameters for Thermal Cook-Off Modelling

The technique of Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) was successfully applied to calibrate the kinetic parameters of the energetic material (EM) PBXN109. A total of nine parameters, was derived from a finite set of One Dimensional Time to Ignition (ODTX) experimental data by minimizing the difference between simulation and experimental ignition times. This difference was found to be 6.4 %, which is more than two times lower than those generated from the published kinetic parameters. This work demonstrates PSO as an effective optimization method for calibrating physical parameters of materials models used in EM modelling.