Sieve Stack and Laser Diffraction Particle Size Analysis of IMX-104 Low-Order Detonation Particles
Abstract
When an artillery round undergoes a low-order detonation during live-fire training or an unexploded ordnance clearance operation, up to 25 of the rounds energetic contents are scattered over a small, localized area, sometimes less than 100 m2. Training-range fate and transport models require an accurate representation of the particle-size characteristics of the material left behind from low-order detonations. This study investigated using laser diffraction particle size analysis to characterize 26 samples collected from four low-order command-detonated 81 mm mortar bodies filled with IMX-104. The refractive index of IMX-104 was estimated using an iterative recalculation technique on a Horiba LA-960 that yielded 1.845 0.01i. Of the 25 triplicate analyses conducted using this value, 12 passed the USP <429> measurement standard with 9 of the remaining samples found to have had a reduction in particle size during analysis that caused artificially high coefficient of variance values. The cumulative percent of particle sizes determined by laser diffraction and sieve stack differed by 0-21.9% (median = 0.2%7.2%). In addition, the higher resolution results of the laser diffraction particle size analysis, especially for particles smaller than 0.5 mm, make it the preferred method of analysis.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Feb 01, 2020
- Accession Number
- AD1091644
Entities
People
- Charles A. Ramsey
- Katrina M. Burch
- Matthew F. Bigl
- Michael R. Walsh
- Samuel Beal
Organizations
- Engineer Research and Development Center