Simulation Development for Silo Test Program (STP). Volume 2. Detonation Characterization of NA/NP (Aqueous Nitric Acid/Nitropropane) and NPN (Nitropropane Nitrate).
Abstract
In support of the Defense Nuclear Agency (DNA) Silo Test Program, the planar steady detonation processes were characterized and initial JWL (Jones-Wilkins-Lee) equation of state (EOS) coefficients were developed for two chemical high explosives (HEs), NA/NP and NPN. NA/NP is a liquid explosive composed of weak (Baume 42) aqueous nitric acid (NA) and the solvent nitropropane (NP). The NA/NP studied here was 3.158 parts NA to 1 part NP, by weight, and its density was 1.25 Mg/m cubed at 29 deg C. NPN (nitropropane nitrate) is a damp granulated blasting agent composed of ammonium nitrate (AN), NP, and methyl alcohol (MA). Our study material was 0.848 AN, 0.075 NP, 0.075 MA, and 0.002 methocel (an added antimigratory agent), by weight, and had a density of 1.01 Mg/m cubed. These unusual explosives are being considered by DNA for use in various nuclear weapons effects simulators because of their potential for producing desired pulse shapes at competitive costs. SRI large-scale multiple Lagrange particle velocity gage experiments, in combination with Lagrange analyses, quantified the early stages of the steady planar detonation process in each material. Thermodynamic equilibrium calculations, performed with the SRI TIGER code, extended the adiabatic release paths to pressures approaching atmospheric. NA/NP exhibited ideal detonation with a pressure-relative volume (p-V) adiabatic release path slightly above that of nitromethane (NM) and a resolved reaction zone of surprisingly long duration, 0.2-0.6 microsecs.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Mar 31, 1984
- Accession Number
- ADA166462
Entities
People
- D. C. Erlich
- D. D. Keough
- J. T. Rosenberg
Organizations
- SRI International