In this paper, a simple approach is introduced to predict detonation velocity of pure and mixed explosives at maximum nominal density. This technique may be applied to any pure or mixed explosives that contain elements of carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen and oxygen. The new method requires only elemental composition and some specific structural parameters. The introduced correlation can easily be applied for determining maximum expected detonation velocity of any new CHNO explosive without using its crystal density. Calculated detonation velocities by this procedure for both pure and composite explosive formulations show good agreement with respect to measured detonation velocity at maximum nominal density. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.