DDT Behavior of Ground Tetryl and Picric Acid

Abstract

This report presents a study of the deflagration to detonation transition (DDT) behavior of ground tetryl to supplement earlier studies on coarse (470 micron) and fine (20 micron) tetryl. It was found that grinding the coarse tetryl changed the shape and location of the curve, predetonation column length (l) vs. %TMD, and also eliminated the variant behavior of the transition. In contrast to the fine and coarse tetryls, the ground tetryl appears to follow exactly the physical model of DDT originally describing the transition in 91/9 RDX/wax. Several shots on picric acid (PA) are also reported; they complete an earlier study. The present results confirm the previous study in that the transition of PA follows the original model and show that its l vs. %TMD curve is, like that of ground tetryl, U shaped. (The branch at higher %TMD lies very close to the curve for fine tetryl). Finally, the uncommonly long relative detonation time for PA can be attributed entirely to the ignition and burning processes which precede the formation of the first detected compressive wave. (Author)

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jan 25, 1978
Accession Number
ADA054594

Entities

People

  • Donna Price
  • Richard R. Bernecker

Organizations

  • Naval Ordnance Laboratory

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Chemical Reaction Properties
  • Combustion
  • Contrast
  • Dead Reckoning
  • Deflagration
  • Detonations
  • Explosives
  • Ignition
  • Interpolation
  • Materials
  • Particle Size
  • Particles
  • Physics Laboratories
  • Picric Acid
  • Plastic Explosives
  • Porosity
  • Transitions

Readers

  • Analytical Chemistry
  • Rocket Propulsion.