Baratols

The high explosives, baratol or Composition B-3, are used to produce the plane wave loading into the driver plates. These explosives have been widely studied in substantial work at Los Alamos. Plane waves are introduced into the explosive pads with either P-22 or P-40 plane-wave generators developed at Los Alamos. The Bear system is based on the 56 mm diameter of the P-22, while the larger sample size Bertha system is based on the 102 mmdiam of the P-40. More details on sample dimensions are reported by Graham [87G03]. 

Fig. 6.6. One-dimensional, pressure-versus-location predictions at various times are shown for a typical powder compact subjected to baratol plane-wave explosive loading. The pressure is shown to ring-up to a final value between the copper end plates (after Graham [87G03]).

Typical pressure and temperature histories computed are shown in Figs. 6.6 and 6.7. In Figs. 6.6, the pressure is shown as a function of position within the powder compact at various times. For the baratol explosive loading shown, an initial wave, whose pressure is 1.8 GPa, is shown moving slowly from right to left. Upon reflection from the rear interface with the copper, the pressure jumps to a much higher value and then quickly reverberates to a peak pressure of about 11.4 GPa. The shorter reverberation time reflects the higher wavespeed and the major reduction in thickness in the compressed powder. 

One of the most interesting results of the zinc ferrite synthesis is the observation that the yield of the product is dependent on the early pressure history. This behavior is shown in Fig. 8.3, which plots the yield versus temperature for baratol explosive loading and for Composition B explosive loading. The difference between these loadings is that the initial pressure pulse amplitude is significantly greater with Composition B. Apparently, the early pressure history has an important conditioning effect for subsequent reactions. 

Hauver concluded that pressure-time measurements with a sulfur transducer in contact with detonating Baratol gave clear evidence of an initial pressure spike, and lends addnl confirmation to the hydro-dynamic theory of deton proposed by von Neumann and others. The sulfur transducer appeared capable of good resolution over that portion of the pressure-time curve corresponding to the reaction zone, and may offer a method for investigating the reaction process Refs 1) S. Joigneau J. Thouvenin, "Electrical Conductivity of Sulfur Under the Action of a Shock Wave , CR 246, 3422-25 (1958) 2) G.E. Hauver,... 

Barium nitrate (Ba[NOj]2) Heavy metal oxidizer used in slow explosive compositions (Baratol). 

Baratol 76% Ba(N03)2 + 24% TNT Low VOD castable explosive used in early explosive lenses... 

TNT, Tritonal, Baratol, Tetryl, Tetrytol, Fentolite, RDX, M15 Propellant, PEJN, Ballistite, JPN Propellant, LA, DDNP, NG MF. No correlation was found between radiation resistance thermal stability, mech sensitivity or ignition temp Refs 1) H. Kallmann W. Schrankler, Naturwissenschaften 21, 379—82(1933)... 

Flyer velocity data for 1-D configurations were used to compute the Gurney constants for the six expls shown in Table 2. Most of the data for PBX 9404, Comp B, and Baratol are from SRI flyer plate experiments, and the other data are largely from LRL. The PWG s are either P-80 s or P-120 s (for the six-inch-thick drivers), and we have assumed the same L for both. 

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