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Types of Explosions
Physical
Nuclear
Primary Secondary
Fig1: Classification of Explosions
THE NATURE OF EXPLOSIONS ing the device; primary material damage is due to air-
Chemical Explosions
Inorganic Organic
CH3
C-Nitro N-Nitro O-Nitro
Lead Azide
(PbN6) TNT RDX HMX NG
NO2 C
Fig4: Classification of Chemical Explosions C C
Therefore,if we simply define an explosive as a sub-
stance capable of causing an explosion, we shall
include many which are of no practical value and are
dangerous . In order to be of use to man, an explo-
C C
sive substance must possess properties such that it
will explode only when it is required to do so. In
practice this implies that it must be chemically inert to
H C H
any other substance with which it may commonly come
into contact, including air and moisture, and that it must
be thermally stable at normal ambient temperatures. At NO2
the same time its ignition temperature must be low
enough to allow initiation by some convenient means. It
is a characteristic of practical explosives that the mini- TNT=C7H5N3O6
mum energy required for initiation is invariably small
compared with the subsequent release of energy by the Fig 5 Structure of TNT molecule
charge. These various properties collectively form the
basis of two essential requirements of a practical explo- 0-nitro - where the nitro group is attached to an oxygen
sive, namely safety and reliability. The application of atom e.g. NG (nitroglycerine)
these two criteria rules out many explosive substances.
TRINITROTOLUENE (TNT)
TYPES OF CHEMICAL EXPLOSIVES
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H
NO2
H C O NO2
N H C O NO2
H2 C CH2 H C O NO2
H
N N
NITROGLYCERINE = C3H5N3O9
O2N CH2 NO2 Fig 7 Structure of Nitroglycerine molecule
RDX = C3H6N6O6 This material could be kneaded and shaped into rods
suitable for insertion into drilling holes. He called his
paste dynamite and went on to develop a blasting cap
Fig 6 Structure of RDX molecule which could be used to detonate dynamite under con-
trolled conditions.
Glycerine is a byproduct of the soap and candle making
a high degree of stability in storage and is considered industries so it is plentiful supply.
the most powerful and brisant (defined later) of the mil-
itary high explosives. The melting point of RDX is 203ºC HMX
(high). RDX compositions are mixtures of RDX, other
explosive ingredients, and desensitizers or plasticizers.
Incorporated with other explosives or inert material at
D escribed as High melting point explosive, and
named, Cyclotetramethylenetetramine (Fig 8) gives
a more violent explosion but is considerably more
the manufacturing plants, RDX forms the base for com- expensive to produce. When employed with TNT and a
mon military explosives. It is mixed with TNT. RDX is little RDX and Wax, it forms a pourable mixture called
mixed with wax and Aluminium powder in the Rapier EDC1 (Explosives Division Compound 1)
warhead.
HBX
NITROGLYCERINE
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explosives are used in missile warheads and underwa- main difference is that triple based propellants produce
ter ordnance. minimal gun flash, which makes a gun position less
easy to locate during night firing.
H-6
All propellants contain Nitrocellulose (NC) and most pro- Example One
pellants have other explosives and additives mixed in. One gram of RDX produces 5130 J of energy and a vol-
The aim of propellant design is to produce a mixture ume of gas equal to 908 cm3, (which is just under 1 litre)
that enables smooth burning without detonation. Power Index = 5130 x 908
Nitrocellulose is a gel-like material made by nitrating the Power Index = 4658040 Jcm3g-1
natural polymer called Cellulose. The degree of nitration
controls the amount of energy liberated when it is burnt. Example Two
The chemical formula for Cellulose is C6H7O2(OH)3. One gram of Lead Azide produces 1610 J of energy and
The effect of nitration is to replace the OH groups by a volume of gas equal to 230 cm3, (which is just under
NO3 groups. The resulting NitroCellulose molecule has 1 litre)
the formula C6H7N3O11 and this molecule is repeated Power Index = 1610 x 230
literally hundreds of times to form the NitroCellulose Power Index = 370300 Jcm3g-1
polymer.
Single Base Propellants contain only OXYGEN CONTENT
NitroCellulose as the explosive ingredient. The Heat of
Explosion (Q Value) for these types are between 3100
J/g and 3700 J/g
T he TNT molecule has a central ring of six carbon
atoms, this system is known as a benzene ring. This
leads to a high carbon percentage in the molecule and
Double Base propellants contain Nitroglycerine in a corresponding low proportion of oxygen. RDX, does
addition to NitroCellulose. They are more energetic than not have double bonds in its central ring system, the ring
Single Based and their Heat of Explosion have values system contains nitrogen atoms reducing the proportion
between 4300 J/g and 5200 J/g of carbon in the molecule. This results in a better ratio of
Triple Base propellants use NC, NG and up to 55% oxygen to the fuel elements, carbon and hydrogen for
Nitroguanidine (picrite) and/or RDX. Their heats of this material. The NG molecule moves away from a ring
Explosion are similar to Single Base Propellants, but the system and achieves a high proportion of oxygen in the
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Detonator
an explosion. Such an examination is difficult due to the
speed of the chemical reaction during the combustion
process. In burning, for example, the process is rela- Fig 9 Burning and Detonating
tively slow, giving time to measure the reaction taking
place. Typically, propellants will burn in milliseconds or OXYGEN BALANCE
longer. In the detonation reaction the time scale is very
short, a matter of microseconds, the actual events
occurring at the molecular level are not visible.
T he variety of products from the explosion depends
on the amount of oxygen available to the explosive.
This in turn is a function of the type of explosive. When
Therefore, indirect observation of the ‘before and after’ the formulae of the explosives are compared, the pro-
type must be used. portion of oxygen in each of the materials may be
An explosive reaction may be regarded as a breaking of observed and related to the amount required for com-
the explosive molecule into its component atoms fol- plete oxidation of the fuel elements, hydrogen and car-
lowed by a re-arrangement of the atoms into a series of bon. NG has the greatest proportion of oxygen, it has
small stable molecules. The usual molecules are those more than the required amount. TNT has the least, it is
of water (H20), carbon dioxide (CO2 ), carbon monoxide very short of oxygen. ‘Oxygen balance’ is the formal
(CO) and nitrogen (N2) Molecules of hydrogen (H2 ) and quantified treatment of this concept and is defined thus:
carbon (C) are also found among the products of some Oxygen balance is the percentage by mass of oxygen,
explosives. positive or negative remaining after detonation when the
products of detonation are carbon dioxide and water’.
= -21.6 %
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Mass of oxygen remaining after reaction -10.5 x 16 = -168 DETONATION VELOCITY AND PRESSURE
Percentage of oxygen remaining after reaction -168 x 100
222 T he detonation velocity is defined as the velocity of
sound in the explosive at the temperature it deto-
nates at, added to the speed of the reacting material as
= -74 % it moves forward in the detonation wave.
Example
TNT shows a low oxygen balance compared with RDX. Sound travels at 5400 ms-1 in detonating TNT. The
If a similar calculation is carried out for NG then a small, speed of the reacting TNT as it moves forward in the
positive oxygen balance results. The further away from detonation wave is 1500 ms-1
oxygen balance, either positive or negative then the Answer
poorer the performance of the explosive in terms of The Detonation Velocity of TNT is 5400 + 1500 = 6900
energy released. ms-1
The Detonation Pressure (P) can be calculated from the
ENERGY OF DETONATION formula below
BRISANCE
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D 2M
vf =
3 –1( 2m + M )
ion, D ms R = 2500 2 + 500 2
R = 2550 ms −1
Example
opp
A cylindrical fragmenting warhead has a steel case of θ = Tan −1
mass 8 kg filled with 12 kg RDX / TNT whose detonation adj
velocity is 8100 ms–1. Find the initial speed of the frag-
2500
ments. θ = Tan −1
500
θ = 78.7º
8100 2 ×12
vf = θ = 1399 mils
3 (2 × 8 + 12)
v f = 2700 0.8571
v f = 2500 ms −1 Energy Density will experienced by the target. It is pos-
sible to take account of this by working out the velocity
needed at the target and then calculate what initial
speed is required.This formula is an exponential decay
FRAGMENT VELOCITY FROM MOVING MISSILE type formula involving
DAMAGE ASSESSMENT
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Fig 13: The Warhead Components Fig 15: The The Electronics Pack
able operation over a wide range of conditions. The pro- the primary damaging mechanism and so the Warhead
cessing algorithms optimise the warhead effectiveness blast pattern is optimised for the missile terminal
using the missile I target geometry during the terminal approach flight profile. Fragmentation is the most effi-
flight phase. The fuze is designed to achieve the highest cient mechanism for transferring warhead energy over
possible lethality against a range of target types. When distances of several metres. The principal warhead
the missile is on a collision course with the target the components are shown in Fig 13 The Mk2 Missile war-
proximity fuze does not produce any output trigger sig- head comprises a matrix of tungsten fragments in close
nals and impact fuzing occurs. The Proximity fuze trig- contact with a body filled with high performance explo-
gers the warhead immediately following the closest sive. The explosive blast pressure accelerates the tung-
passing point of the missile and target. The combination sten fragments to a high velocity over a short distance,
of blast and kinetic energy ensures a high probability of giving them an exceptional penetration capability. The
target kill. Missile lethality is thus maintained or bettered Warhead destruction pattern is matched to the Proximity
for large targets,and is greatly improved for small tar- Fuze characteristics and, in conjunction with the low
gets. The Fuze is fully automatic requiring no operator guidance errors of the Mk2 Missile, the fragment spread
pre-flight setting or low altitude inhibits. Fig 12 shows is small and the high velocity is retained over the short
schematically the fuze operating beam profiles. distances to a target. As a result the combined fragment
Shaped Charge, Blast and Fragmentation Warhead kill probability is very high.
To achieve a significant proximity kill potential whilst still Safety and Arming Unit
maintaining the kill probability on impact of the Mkl The SAU provides the safety interlocks associated with
Rapier Semi-Armour-Piercing warhead, a compact war- the warhead and detonator ensuring that the warhead
head of the blast, fragmentation and shaped armour cannot be detonated by any mishandling in use and,
piercing type is incorporated. once launched, until a minimum safe distance has been
For direct impact conditions a high energy shaped travelled. It then allows detonation of the warhead when
charge provides penetration of armoured targets. At required by either the fuze or by removal of the com-
small miss distances the blast effect is mand guidance information. The function and construc-
tion of the safety and arming unit benefits from the lat-
est technological improvements. Three totally independ-
ent criteria (forward missile acceleration, time from
launch and distance travelled) are monitored to ensure
that the missile remains safe and that the warhead can-
not be activated until the missile has flown a safe dis-
tance from the launcher and operators. This safe dis-
tance still ensures that the warhead is enabled for a
minimum range engagement.
Fig 14: Missile Forebody Forebody Profile
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ELECTRONICS PACK
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a Cyclotetramethylenetetramine
b Cyclotol 15 The explosive that was used by Sir Alfred Nobel in
c Cyclotrinitamine the production of Dynamite was:
d Cyclotrimethylenetrinitramine
a NG
8 HMX is the chemical compound: b NC
c RDX
a Cyclotrinitamine d TNT
b Cyclotrimethylenetrinitramine
c Cyclotetramethylenetetramine
d tetrytol
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16 An explosive produces 800 cubic centimetres of gas 23 A missile travelling at 700 ms–1 ejects fragments
for every gram of explosive. Its Heat of explosion is that are travelling at 3000 ms–1. The resultant speed of
5000 J/g. Its power index is therefore: the fragments and the direction they travel in are:
a +3.5%
b –3.5%
c +21.6%
d –21.6%
a +3.5%
b –3.5%
c +21.6%
d –21.6%
a 12.5
b 125
c 100
d 175
a 2900 ms–1
b 1814 ms–1
c 1914 ms–1
d 814 ms–1
a 2900 ms–1
b 2675 ms–1
c 2134 ms–1
d 2038 ms–1
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Answers to Self Test
1b
2c
3a
4d
5c
6d
7d
9c
10b
11a
12c
13d
14b
15a
16b
17a
18d
19b
20c
21b
22d
23a
SELF TEST ANSWERS
AGS Warheads and Fuzes
Type a description here AGS
Filename 16 Date