THRESHOLD STUDIES ON TNT, COMPOSITION B, C-4, AND ANFO EXPLOSIVES USING THE STEVEN IMPACT TEST

Conference · Tue Jun 20 00:00:00 EDT 2006

OSTI ID:896563

Vandersall, K S; Switzer, L L; Garcia, F

Steven Impact Tests were performed at low velocity on the explosives TNT (trinitrotolulene), Composition B (63% RDX, 36% TNT, and 1% wax by weight), C-4 (91% RDX, 5.3% Di (2-ethylhexyl) sebacate, 2.1% Polyisobutylene, and 1.6% motor oil by weight) and ANFO (94% ammonium Nitrate with 6% Fuel Oil) in attempts to obtain a threshold for reaction. A 76 mm helium driven gas gun was used to accelerate the Steven Test projectiles up to approximately 200 m/s in attempts to react (ignite) the explosive samples. Blast overpressure gauges, acoustic microphones, standard video and high-speed photography were used to characterize the level of any high explosive reaction violence. No bulk reactions were observed in the TNT, Composition B, C-4 or ANFO explosive samples impacted up to velocities in the range of 190-200 m/s. This work will outline the experimental details and discuss the lack of reaction when compared to the reaction thresholds of other common explosives. These results will also be compared to that of the Susan Test and reaction thresholds observed in the common small-scale safety tests such as the drop hammer and friction tests in hopes of drawing a correlation.

• Research Organization: Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE
• DOE Contract Number: W-7405-ENG-48
• OSTI ID: 896563
• Report Number(s): UCRL-CONF-222305; TRN: US200703%%818
• Resource Relation: Conference: Presented at: 13th International Detonation Symposium, Norfolk, VA, United States, Jul 23 - Jul 28, 2006
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

02 PETROLEUM
36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
37 INORGANIC
ORGANIC
PHYSICAL AND ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY
75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS
SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND SUPERFLUIDITY
42 ENGINEERING
ACOUSTICS
AMMONIUM NITRATES
CHEMICAL EXPLOSIVES
EXPLOSIONS
EXPLOSIVES
FRICTION
FUEL OILS
HELIUM
IMPACT TESTS
MOTORS
PHOTOGRAPHY
PROJECTILES
SAFETY
TNT
VELOCITY