Thermite procedure

Hawley(Ref 8) give an example of wrought "age-hardenable" alloys which are modifications of Duralumin or of castable alloys containing Al and ca 12%. Other industrial products of Ai aiioys are granules of various sizes used for adding to molten steel, for Thermite reactions 3nd for expls, Renulre ments of the most important alloy of Al(Mg-Al) used in expls are described in a joint Army-Navy Spec(Ref 3). The tests and detns are listed under Aluminum (Analytical Procedures). The aiioy of Ai with Mg is used in pyrotechnic compositions and as a metal additive to some fci h explosives... 

The common practice of thermite welding is another application of the Goldschmidt process. Iron rails are often welded together by this procedure. The ends to be welded together are surrounded by a packing of sand and clay. Molten iron is produced by the reaction... 

In summary, we have correlated the data from two experiments to generate an approximate similitude equation. The same equation provides reasonable agreement with both experiments. In addition, an entirely different similitude equation has been generated by correlating a set of hydro-dynamic calculations (as though they were experiments) for both TNT and thermite steam explosions. This independent equation predicted impulses that were about 60% of the measured values. Part of this under-prediction could be due to internal reflections and superposition of shock waves in the experiments. Another part could be due to experimental efficiencies higher than those assxamed in the set of calculations. In either case, this analysis procedure implies that the experimental explosions had efficiencies that could have been as much as 50-100% of theoretical maximums. Many more experiments are required, however, before these efficiencies could be considered confirmed. 

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