Detonation Front Curvature Measurements and Aquarium Tests of Tritonal Variants

Abstract

`Alex', an ultrafine aluminium powder, burns more rapidly than conventional aluminium powders in energetic materials. In TNT-based formulations, the increased rate of energy release leads to higher detonation pressures and velocities. In order to determine the rate of Alex combustion in solid explosives, and to further assess its effects on the detonation properties of TNT formulations, aquarium tests and detonation front curvature tests were performed on Tritonal variants. The aquarium tests definitively show that Alex combustion in detonating Tritonal is significantly faster than that of Cap45a, the conventional aluminium powder used for military explosives. Additional pressure and velocity measurements from the aquarium tests agree with previous experiments. The results of detonation front measurements were less conclusive, but show qualitive trends that support existing data.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Apr 01, 2003
Accession Number
ADA484053

Entities

People

  • Helen Dorsett
  • Matthew D. Cliff

Organizations

  • Defence Science and Technology Group

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Counter IED
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Burning Rate
  • Cameras
  • Chemical Reactions
  • Chemistry
  • Combustion
  • Energetic Materials
  • Explosions
  • Explosive Devices
  • Explosives
  • High Explosives
  • Insensitive Explosives
  • Materials Laboratories
  • Materials Science
  • Particle Size
  • Photographs
  • Photography
  • Solid Rocket Oxidizers

Readers

  • Rocket Propulsion.