Cut and Capture System Technology for Demilitarization ofUnderwater Munitions

Abstract

Munitions are encountered in a variety of underwater environments as unexploded ordnance(UXO) or discarded military munitions (DMM). The objective of this project was to validate an underwater suite of tools that can be used to render safe underwater UXO and DMM. Testing was conducted on inert Navy 5-inch/38-caliber projectiles in a test tank (demonstration 1) and in the ocean off a pier (demonstration 2). The proprietary technology for underwater demilitarization of munitions utilized a suite of tools that accomplished the following:1) cleaned a munition of external bioencrustations using a high-pressure waterjet cleaning tool, 2) positioned a cut and capture apparatus on the munition, 3) cut an access hole in the side of the munition using a high-pressure entrainment-style abrasive waterjet cutting head,4) removed the resulting plug, 5) washed out the internal contents of the munition using a high-pressure washout head, and 6) captured the effluent generated during operations without leakage to the environment.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Oct 16, 2020
Accession Number
AD1173679

Entities

People

  • Steve Schmit

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Blast
  • Control Systems
  • Controlled Environment
  • Data Analysis
  • Department Of Defense
  • Environment
  • Environmental Protection
  • Experimental Design
  • Explosions
  • Explosive Ordnance Disposal
  • Explosives
  • Flow Rate
  • Gantries
  • High Pressure
  • Human-Machine Interfaces
  • Hydraulic Presses
  • Materials
  • Munitions
  • Statistical Analysis
  • Surface Roughness
  • Unexploded Ammunition

Readers

  • Environmental Engineering.
  • Manufacturing Engineering.
  • Military/Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) Technology