Detonation of Rapidly Dispersed Powders in Air
Abstract
The vulnerability of a structure to blast overpressures is given by a critical load curve in which peak pressures are plotted versus impulse. The changing values of P, I given by each curve is shown schematically in Figure 1 together with an indication of the performance of FAE weapons against these mines. The detonation of dispersed powders does not share the limitation in maximum overpressures found for the liquid fuel-air systems. Solid powders such as explosive powders and combinations of flaked aluminum and ammonium perchlorate, carry their own oxygen at the molecular level for efficient combustion during detonation. The maximum pressures attainable in powdered, dispersed solid systems that carry molecular oxygen is easily related to the density of explosive, the energy available for combustion and the detonation velocity. Therefore, dispersed powdered systems can be developed in which the pressures obtained are determined by the density of the dispersed powder-air mixture and the combustion energy intrinsic to the selected solid.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jun 18, 1982
- Accession Number
- ADA117297
Entities
People
- David C. Heberlein