Fragmentation is the process by which the casing of an artillery shell, bomb, gr

enade, etc. is shattered by the detonation of the explosive filler.

The correct technical terminology of these pieces is "fragmentation" (sometimes
shortened to frag) - although "shards" or "splinters" can be used for non-prefor
med fragments. Preformed fragments can be of various shapes (spheres, cubes, rod
s, etc.) and size and are normally held rigidly within some form of matrix or bo
dy until the HE filling is detonated. The resulting high velocity fragments prod
uced by either method are the main lethal mechanisms of these weapons, rather th
an the heat or overpressure caused by detonation, although offensive grenades ar
e often constructed without a frag matrix.
These casing pieces are often incorrectly referred to as "shrapnel" (particularl
y by non-military media sources), though this is the result of the original term
being culturally genericized due to its uniquely memorable phonology