Detonation Front Curvature Measurements and Aquarium Tests of Tritonal Variants; Technical rept

摘要

Alex, an ultrafine aluminium powder, burns more rapidly than conventional aluminium powders in energetic materials. In TNT-based formulations, the increased rate of energy release leads to higher detonation pressures and velocities. In order to determine the rate of Alex combustion in solid explosives, and to further assess its effects on the detonation properties of TNT formulations, aquarium tests and detonation front curvature tests were performed on Tritonal variants. The aquarium tests definitively show that Alex combustion in detonating Tritonal is significantly faster than that of Cap45a, the conventional aluminium powder used for military explosives. Additional pressure and velocity measurements from the aquarium tests agree with previous experiments. The results of detonation front measurements were less conclusive, but show qualitive trends that support existing data.