Thermal and chemical properties of various forms of energetic materials are studied at high pressures and temperatures, ranging from unreacted high explosives (nitromethane, HMX, PETN, TATB, LX-17, etc.) to reacting (deflagration, detonation, decomposition) systems, to major detonation products (carbon, H₂O, N₂, CO₂) to mixtures of these materials.

Equations of state, phase transitions, chemical reactions, phase diagrams, structures, and sensitivities of these materials are often determined as a function of pressure, temperature, and time. Energetic materials undergo very complicated changes behind the detonation front. In order to understand these energetic processes, we investigate various intrinsic (energy transfer, transient kinetics, equation of state, carbon coagulation, etc.) and extrinsic (hot spots, microstructures, composition heterogeneity, etc.) properties of associated materials at high pressures and temperatures.