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

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

Underwater Blast Experiments and Modeling for Shock Mitigation

A simple but novel mitigation concept to enforce standoff distance and reduce shock loading on a vertical, partially-submerged structure is evaluated using scaled aquarium experiments and numerical modeling. Scaled, water tamped explosive experiments were performed using three gallon aquariums. The effectiveness of different mitigation configurations, including air-filled media and an air gap, is assessed relative to an unmitigated detonation using the same charge weight and standoff distance. Experiments using an air-filled media mitigation concept were found to effectively dampen the explosive response of the aluminum plate and reduce the final displacement at plate center by approximately half. The finite element model used for the initial experimental design compares very well to the experimental DIC results both spatially and temporally. Details of the experiment and finite element aquarium models are described including the boundary conditions, Eulerian and Lagrangian techniques, detonation models, experimental design and test diagnostics

Isentropic Compression for TATB Based HE Samples, Numerical Simulations and Comparison with Experiments

Isentropic compression experiments and numerical simulations on TATB based HE were performed respectively at Z accelerator facility from Sandia National Laboratory and at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in order to study the isentrope and associated Hugoniot of this HE [1]. 3D configurations have been calculated here to test the new beta version of the electromagnetism package coupled with the dynamics in Ls-Dyna and compared with the ICE Z shot 1967

LX-04 VIOLENCE MEASUREMENTS- STEVEN TESTS IMPACTED BY PROJECTILES SHOT FROM A HOWITZER GUN

Characterization of the reaction violence of LX-04 explosive (85% HMX and 15% Viton A by weight) was obtained from Steven Impact Tests performed above the reaction initiation threshold. A 155 mm Howitzer propellant driven gas gun was used to accelerate the Steven Test projectiles in the range of approximately 170-300 m/s to react (ignite) the LX-04 explosive. Blast overpressure gauges, acoustic microphones, and high-speed photography characterized the level of high explosive reaction violence. A detonation in this velocity range was not observed and when comparing these results (and the Susan test results) with that of other HMX based explosives, LX-04 has a more gradual reaction violence slope as the impact velocity increases. The high binder content (15%) of the LX-04 explosive is believed to be the key factor to the lower level of violence

Initiation of Heated PBX-9501 Explosive When Exposed to Dynamic Loading

Shock initiation experiments on the heated PBX9501 explosive (95% HMX, 2.5% estane, and 2.5% nitro-plasticizer by weight) were performed at temperatures 150 C and 180 C to obtain in-situ pressure gauge data. A 101 mm diameter propellant driven gas gun was utilized to initiate the PBX9501 explosive and manganin piezo-resistive pressure gauge packages were placed between sample slices to measure time resolved local pressure histories. The run-distance-to-detonation points on the Pop-plot for these experiments showed the sensitivity of the heated material to shock loading. This work shows that heated PBX-9501 is more shock sensitive than it is at ambient conditions. Proper Ignition and Growth modeling parameters were obtained to fit the experimental data. This parameter set will allow accurate code predictions to be calculated for safety scenarios involving PBX9501 explosives at temperatures close to those at which experiments were performed

SHOCK INITIATION EXPERIMENTS ON THE LLM-105 EXPLOSIVE RX-55-AA AT 25?C AND 150?C WITH IGNITION AND GROWTH MODELING

Shock initiation experiments on the LLM-105 based explosive RX-55-AA (95% LLM-105, 5% Viton by weight) were performed at 25 C and 150 C to obtain in-situ pressure gauge data, run-distance-to-detonation thresholds, and Ignition and Growth modeling parameters. A 101 mm diameter propellant driven gas gun was utilized to initiate the explosive sample with manganin piezoresistive pressure gauge packages placed between sample slices. The run-distance-to-detonation points on the Pop-plot for these experiments showed agreement at 25 C with previously published data on a similar LLM-105 based formulation RX-55-AB as well as a slight sensitivity increase at elevated temperature (150 C) as expected. Ignition and Growth modeling parameters were obtained with a reasonable fit to the experimental data

SHOCK INITIATION EXPERIMENTS ON THE HMX BASED EXPLOSIVE LX-10 WITH ASSOCIATED IGNITION AND GROWTH MODELING

Shock initiation experiments on the HMX based explosives LX-10 (95% HMX, 5% Viton by weight) and LX-07 (90% HMX, 10% Viton by weight) were performed to obtain in-situ pressure gauge data, run-distance-to-detonation thresholds, and Ignition and Growth modeling parameters. A 101 mm diameter propellant driven gas gun was utilized to initiate the explosive samples with manganin piezoresistive pressure gauge packages placed between sample slices. The run-distance-to-detonation points on the Pop-plot for these experiments and prior experiments on another HMX based explosive LX LX-04 (85% HMX, 15% Viton by weight) will be shown, discussed, and compared as a function of the binder content. This parameter set will provide additional information to ensure accurate code predictions for safety scenarios involving HMX explosives with different percent binder content additions

SHOCK INITIATION OF COMPOSITION B AND C-4 EXPLOSIVES; EXPERIMENTS AND MODELING

Shock initiation experiments on the explosives Composition B and C-4 were performed to obtain in-situ pressure gauge data for the purpose of providing the Ignition and Growth reactive flow model with proper modeling parameters. A 100 mm diameter propellant driven gas gun was utilized to initiate the explosive charges containing manganin piezoresistive pressure gauge packages embedded in the explosive sample. Experimental data provided new information on the shock velocity--particle velocity relationship for each of the investigated material in their respective pressure range. The run-distance-to-detonation points on the Pop-plot for these experiments showed agreement with previously published data, and Ignition and Growth modeling calculations resulted in a good fit to the experimental data. Identical ignition and growth reaction rate parameters were used for C-4 and Composition B, and the Composition B model also included a third reaction rate to simulate the completion of reaction by the TNT component. This model can be applied to shock initiation scenarios that have not or cannot be tested experimentally with a high level of confidence in its predictions

DYNAMIC LOADING OF TEFLON AT 200?C

Dynamic loading experiments were performed on inert Teflon (Polytetrafluoroethylene) samples, initially heated to the temperature of 200 C, to test its behavior under these conditions for its use in other heated experiments. Tests were performed in the 100 mm diameter bore propellant driven gas gun with piezo-resistive manganin pressure gauges imbedded into the samples to measure loading pressures. Experimental data provided new information on the shock velocity - particle velocity relationship for the heated material and showed no adverse effect of temperature on the insulating properties of the material