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U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Feasibility of using Amatex in Air Force submunitions

Technical Report ·
DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/7107302· OSTI ID:7107302
Unconfined BLU-61A/B and BLU-63/B submunitions were test-fired with standard (1.5 g) and oversize (3.0 g) RDX booster pellets. Only the BLU-61A/B with the oversize booster pellet sustained a detonation wave around its entire periphery. This wave was unidirectional, instead of proceeding symmetrically from the surface point of detonation breakout. The detonation velocity of Amatex/30 was measured at five diameters, from 102 mm down to 10 mm. The detonation velocity varied from 7.275 mm/..mu..s for 102-mm diam (corrected to rho = 1.645 Mg/m/sup 3/) to 6.997 mm/..mu..s for 19-mm diam (corrected to rho = 1.645 Mg/m/sup 3/). A detonation was not sustained in the 10-mm-diam charge. The shock sensitivity of Amatex/30 was measured in a series of wedge experiments. The shock sensitivity, expressed as the input pressure P/sub 0/ (GPa), that will result in a run of X*(mm) in the explosive before a high-order detonation begins, is log P/sub 0/ = 1.5543 -- 0.7918 log X*. The effects of AN particle size on the detonation velocity of various Amatex formulations and shock sensitivity data for Amatex/20 are discussed.
Research Organization:
Los Alamos Scientific Lab., NM (USA)
DOE Contract Number:
W-7405-ENG-36
OSTI ID:
7107302
Report Number(s):
LA-6773-PR; AFATL-TR-76-154
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English