Use of Aqueous Foam to Mitigate Demolitions Noise

Abstract

This report describes an investigation into whether aqueous foam is a viable technique for quieting unconfined explosives and whether design parameters can be established for its use to reduce the environmental noise levels of Army artillery, demolition, and explosives ordnance disposal. It was concluded that: (1) Both high- and low-expansion ratio foams can be used to reduce the blast noise levels of Army explosive charges. For unconfined explosives, it was found that blast noise can be reduced by up to 14 dB; if the explosive is confined, the foam's effectiveness is increased by about 3 to 6 dB. (2) It is possible to predict the blast noise level reductions for unconfined charges produced by different foams, foam depths, and charge masses and to estimate reductions for confined explosions produced by different foams, foam depths, and charge masses. (3) Aqueous foam can be used to reduce the blast noise levels of shaped charges and artillery.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Dec 01, 1981
Accession Number
ADA111446

Entities

People

  • Richard Raspet

Organizations

  • Construction Engineering Research Laboratory

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Counter IED
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Construction
  • Data Analysis
  • Energy
  • Engineering
  • Engineers
  • Explosions
  • Explosive Charges
  • Explosives
  • Materials Laboratories
  • Measurement
  • Mechanical Engineering
  • Physical Properties
  • Plastic Explosives
  • Pressure Measurement
  • Rocket Oxidizers
  • Sound Pressure
  • Waveforms

Fields of Study

  • Physics

Readers

  • Acoustics.
  • Explosive Engineering.
  • Fire Suppression Systems Design.