Blast performance of isopropyl nitrate-based thermobaric explosives vs. cast-cured PBX

Abstract

Thermobaric explosives are currently among most studied energetic formulations, due to their extraordinary combination of blast and thermal effects. They may be in the form if liqud explosive mixtures, often denoted as fuel-air explosives (FAE) or solid explosive charges, as solid fuel-air explosives (SFAE) or thermobaric explosives (TBE, TBX). This study compares the blast effect of selected formulations of the two types of thermobarics in field test. As FAE, compositions were prepared based on gelled isopropyl nitrate with metal particles as fuel component, and as TBE a multi-component polymer bonded explosive (PBX) was prepared, based on octogene, aluminium powder, ammonium perchlorate and a polymer binder. The selected explosive formulations were prepared as cylindrical charges of 5 kg and activated with electric detonator at 2 m height in open field test. The characteristics of the blast wave in air (maximum overpressure, duration of the positive phase of the pressure and impulse) were measured at different distances from the activation spot, using piezoelectric gauges. Also, the thermal effect of the explosions was observed with infra red imaging technique.