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Setback Testing of ANFO and Water‐Based Explosives
Author(s) -
Listh O.
Publication year - 1978
Publication title -
propellants, explosives, pyrotechnics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.56
H-Index - 65
eISSN - 1521-4087
pISSN - 0721-3115
DOI - 10.1002/prep.19780030111
Subject(s) - explosive material , plunger , sample (material) , materials science , aluminium , sensitivity (control systems) , slurry , analytical chemistry (journal) , environmental science , composite material , geotechnical engineering , chemistry , geology , chromatography , engineering , organic chemistry , electronic engineering
In a setback simulator a gunpowder charge is used to drive a heavily confined sample of explosive against a stationary plunger. The pressure on the sample, the sample velocity, and the acceleration of the sample are recorded. The results found show that the degree of confinement of the sample is an important test parameter. The results for civil AN‐based explosives show that water gels containing sensitizers are easier to initiate than the military explosive Comp. B, whereas non‐cap‐sensitive slurries could not be initiated in this test. There was no obvious difference in sensitivity between water gels with or without aluminium content. Contrary to this, ANFO containing aluminium showed a higher sensitivity than did pure ANFO. Critical pressures on the sample were in the range of 0.04 GPa‐0.14 GPa, and the corresponding sample velocities ranged from 8 m/s to 27 m/s. Sample decelerations when hitting the plunger were in the range of 30 m/s 2 ‐80 km/s 2 .