Explosive power, tests

Methylnitropropanolnitrate readily gelatinizes collodion cotton and, to a lesser extent, higher-nitrogen NC. Its explosive power is comparable to that of TNT, and about 75% of that of blasting gelatin. It is very insensitive to detonation, and for this reason its sand test value could not be detd... 

In the other type of test, the strength of the detonation (explosive power) is determined. Examples of methods for this type of test are the lead block test [139] and the ballistic mortar test [141]. Only the first type of test, which determines the possibility of a detonation, is discussed here. 

KL) Anon, "Military Explosives", TM 9-1300-214/TO 11A-1-34 (1967). Chapter 5. Properties and Tests of High Explosives Sensitivity to Frictional Impact (pp 5 1 to 5-3) Sensitivity to Friction (5 3 to 5-6) Sensitivity to Frictional Impact (5-6) Sensitivity to Heat and Spark, which includes Explosion Temperature Test (5-6 to 5-9) Sensitivity to Initiation (5-9) Stability Tests, which include 75° International Test, 100° Heat Test, Vacuum Stability Test and Potassium Iodide—Starch Test (5 9 to 5-15) Brisance Tests which include Sand Test, Plate Dent Test and Fragmentation Test (5 15 to 5-18 and Fig 5 13 on p 5-19) Initiating Value (5-18 5-20) Sympathetic Detonation (5-20 to 5-21) Power which includes Heat of Explosion Test, Ballistic Pendulum Test and Trauzl Lead Block Test (5-21. to 5-24) Blast Effect (5-24 to 5-27) Cratering Effect (5-28 5 29) and Munroe-Neumann Effect (5-29 to 5 35)... 

Many tests have been used to estimate or evaluate the explosive power of materials by assessing the damage done to the surroundings. At TCC-RMD we have adopted a modified version of the well-known Trauzl test. This test gives a relative measure of the power of an explosive and a qualitative indication of its sensitivity. In our modification of the test, the lead block used is a cylinder 2-1/2 inches high, 2 inches outer diameter with a cavity bored out so that the walls and bottom are 1/2-inch thick. 

In Anglo-Saxon countries a test in a ballistic mortar is also used. Tests for explosive power should be repeated occasionally for inspection purposes in production. 

The power of sheathed explosive is tested using the sheath to cover a standard explosive composed of ... 

In addition to the linear relationship betw the characteristic product and explosive power values of high explosives shown above, there is a similar relationship betw the characteristic product and ballistic potential values of proplnt compns(Ref 11). The ballistic potential value of a compn may be expressed as either specific impulse or velocity values obtained by tests in cannon. Illustrative of this are the following dath... 

The routine tests which are carried out on military explosives art described in U. S. War Department Technical Manual TM9-2900, Military Explosives. The testing of explosives for sensitivity, explosive power, etc., is described in the Bulletins and Technical Papers of the U. S. Bureau of Mines. The student of explosives is advised to secure from the Superintendent of Documents, Washington, D. C., a list of the publications of the Bureau of Mines, and then to supply himself with as many as may be of interest, for they are sold at very moderate prices. The following are especially recommended. Several of these are now no longer procurable from the Superintendent of Documents, but they may be found in many libraries. 

During the above mentioned test procedure, some controversial points were noted, e.g. a large scatter in the swing length was found, safety precautions for detonators were insufficient, and with aluminium foil wrap for the sample excessive explosive powers were obtained, because aluminium reacted as fuel with oxidizing materials. Therefore, some revisions were incorporated. 

The dependence of the volume of the crater on explosive is shown in Fig.3.134. For the same mass, volumes of craters generated by Areimite, DPT and DNB are almost the same, while that by ANFO is smaller. The explosion powers determined by the MKIII ballistic mortar test are 100%, 60%, 90% and 115% of that of TNT respectively. The trend in the results from the MKIII ballistic mortar test is not consistent with that from the volume of craters. The reason for this difference is yet not clear, and more data are needed. 

Hazards of detonation and violent combustion of oxidizer mixtures are generally evaluated by tests of detonation—propagation, initiation sensitivity and explosion power. For oxidizer mixtures explosiveness is important To ensure the safety of operaters, it is necessary to investigate the mixing ignition, stability and super high—sensitivity with a small mass of sample before the practical test. In this field Treumann has done much of the work 1 1. ... 

Tritium is also used in the manufacture of fusion bombs. A fusion bomb is also known as a hydrogen bomb. In a fusion bomb, small atoms are squeezed together (fused) to make a larger atom. In the process, enormous amounts of energy are given off. For example, the first fusion bomb tested by the United States in 1952 had the explosive power of 15 million tons of TNT. A type of fusion bomb fuses tritium with deuterium to make helium atoms ... 

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