The thermal stability during the autocatalytic decomposition of a material depends on the intrinsic properties of the substance such as its kinetic triplet, in addition to its thermal history. In this reported study, simulations were conducted on select substances using the first-order reaction model (F1) and the general autocatalytic reaction model (Cn). Through changing the initial conversion rate, the thermal history's influence on the dynamic differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) curves was investigated based on the n-order reaction and autocatalytic reaction. A thermal history method for determining the autocatalytic decompositions of four energetic materials were established using the results of Roduit et al. and a simulated combustion. The isothermal DSC measurements and Swiss method were also employed to validate the reliability of the proposed thermal history method. Results of the simulations and experiments indicated that the influence on the dynamic DSC curves was significant based on data in the autocatalytic reactions. Thermal stability was decreased with a lower initial temperature and peak temperature. The influence was more significant on the energetic materials with greater autocatalytic potential. The results of this study indicated that the proposed thermal history method can be successfully used to quickly and effectively identify the autocatalysis characteristics of energetic materials. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.