Application of Hierarchical Clustering Method in Evaluation of Explosive Sensitivity

Based on the basic theory of the hierarchical clustering method, a new clustering method to evaluate the sensitivities of explosives is presented. According to the different definitions of "group distance", different evaluation methods are derived. Using the methods presented, eight familiar military explosives are analyzed, and the clustering charts of different methods were plotted with MATLAB. The charts show the similarity of different explosives' sensitivities visualized, and eight explosives are classified into different groups in the charts. The results perfectly accord with that gain through other methods given in the references.