Insensitive Munitions Testing

As a consequence of this accident and others that followed, US Navy initiated the development of explosives that would be less vulnerable to unplanned stimuli 

Threat acronym Pass-requirement Definition Scenario 

Fast Cookoff FC N 0 response more severe than type V (burning) Average temperature between 550 and 850 °C until all munitions reactions completed. About 550 °C reached within 30 s from ignition Magazine/store fire or aircraft/vehicle fuel fire 

BI No response more severe than type V (burning) From one to three 12.7 mm (armour piercing) round velocity between 400 and 850 m s Small arms attack 

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Insensitive Munitions Testing 319 Table 19.11 Response of MJU lOB MTV flares to bullet impact [41, 43]. 

The explosives used for military purposes are different from those used in industry. Not only thermo mechanical power for destruction, but also various other characteristics are required. Experimental tests, such as slow cook-off fast cook-off, bullet impact, and sympathetic explosion tests, must be passed to meet the requirements for insensitive munitions (IM). The aerodynamic heating of warheads on flight projectiles is also an important factor in designing warheads. 

The term insensitive munition (IM) is used to describe munition which is particularly safe to handle and which is difficult to initiate accidentally, but at the same time has the power and reliability to fulfil the requirements necessary to complete the mission. The insensitivity of munition can be tested and classified into six categories (Tab. 6.4). 

This term describes improved properties of energetic materials. In the 1990s it was shown that with careful recrystallization techniques the sensitivity RDX can be reduced on a crystalline level. Nowadays, reduced sensitivity variants of RDX, assigned as RS-RDX or l-RDX (for insensitive), are provided by different manufacturer and tested, particularly in plastic bonded explosives PBXfor Insensitive Munitions IM. Besides, RS-variants of HMX and other high explosives, and characterization and quality assessment techniques for Reduced Sensitivity are in the scope of actual research. 

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