To explore the possibility of 3, 4-dinitropyrazole (DNP) instead of TNT as a new carrier for melt-cast explosives., its structure was characterized by optical microscope, FTIR spectrometer, UV VIS spectrophotometer, TG/DTA thermal analysis instrument. The heat of detonation and detonation velocity of DNP were respectively tested by an oxygen bomb calorimeter and the electrical measuring method. The detonation property parameters of DNP/CL-20 and TNT/CL-20 composite explosives were calculated by the VLW program. Results show that thermal decomposition of DNP, can be divided into two stages: ring′s breaking、nitro′s falling off from the ring of DNP and autocatalytic reaction.The apparent activation energy of thermal decomposition of DNP is 131 kJ·mol^-1. The experimental values of heat of detonation and detonation velocity of DNP are 4326 kJ·kg^-1 and 7633 m·s^-1, respectively. The detonation performances of DNP/CL-20 composite explosive are better than those of TNT/CL-20 composite explosive. The calculated values of detonation pressure and detonation velocity of DNP/CL-20 mixed explosive are 39.4 GPa and 8961 m·s^-1, respectively when DNP/CL-20=2:3(mass ratio).