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Minol (explosive)
Minol (pronounced ''mine-ol'') is a military explosive developed by the Admiralty early in the Second World War to augment supplies of trinitrotoluene (TNT) and RDX, which were in short supply. The aluminium component in Minol significantly prolongs the explosive pulse, making it ideal for use in underwater naval weapons (e.g. naval mines, for which it was developed, depth charges and torpedoes) where munitions with a longer explosive pulse are more destructive than those with high brisance. Minol cannot be used in weapons fired from gun barrels (e.g. artillery shells) because there is a risk of detonation when subjected to over 250 gs of acceleration. Typically, four Minol formulas were used. All percentages shown are by weight: * Minol-1: 48% TNT, 42% ammonium nitrate and 10% powdered aluminium * Minol-2: 40% TNT, 40% ammonium nitrate and 20% powdered aluminium * Minol-3: 42% TNT, 38% ammonium nitrate and 20% powdered aluminium * Minol-4: 40% TNT, 36% ammonium nitrate, 4% potas ...
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Explosive
An explosive (or explosive material) is a reactive substance that contains a great amount of potential energy that can produce an explosion if released suddenly, usually accompanied by the production of light, heat, sound, and pressure. An explosive charge is a measured quantity of explosive material, which may either be composed solely of one ingredient or be a mixture containing at least two substances. The potential energy stored in an explosive material may, for example, be * chemical energy, such as nitroglycerin or grain dust * pressurized gas, such as a gas cylinder, aerosol can, or BLEVE * nuclear energy, such as in the fissile isotopes uranium-235 and plutonium-239 Explosive materials may be categorized by the speed at which they expand. Materials that detonate (the front of the chemical reaction moves faster through the material than the speed of sound) are said to be "high explosives" and materials that deflagrate are said to be "low explosives". Explosives may ...
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Ammonium Nitrate
Ammonium nitrate is a chemical compound with the chemical formula . It is a white crystalline salt consisting of ions of ammonium and nitrate. It is highly soluble in water and hygroscopic as a solid, although it does not form hydrates. It is predominantly used in agriculture as a high-nitrogen fertilizer.Karl-Heinz Zapp "Ammonium Compounds" in ''Ullmann's Encyclopedia of Industrial Chemistry'' 2012, Wiley-VCH, Weinheim. Global production was estimated at 21.6 million tonnes in 2017. Its other major use is as a component of explosive mixtures used in mining, quarrying, and civil construction. It is the major constituent of ANFO, a popular industrial explosive which accounts for 80% of explosives used in North America; similar formulations have been used in improvised explosive devices. Many countries are phasing out its use in consumer applications due to concerns over its potential for misuse.
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Tritonal
Tritonal is a mixture of 80% TNT and 20% aluminium powder, used in several types of ordnance such as air-dropped bombs. The aluminium improves the total heat output and hence impulse of the TNT — the length of time during which the blast wave is positive. Tritonal is approximately 18% more powerful than TNT alone. The 87  kg of tritonal in a Mark 82 bomb has the potential to produce approximately 863  MJ of energy when detonated. This implies an energy density of approximately 9MJ/kg, compared to ~4MJ/kg for TNT. References {{reflist See also *Torpex * Composition H6 *Minol The Volkseigener Betrieb, VEB Kombinat Minol, founded on 1 January 1956, was the state-owned gasoline and lubricant reseller of the German Democratic Republic. The marketing name MINOL was invented in 1949, when Die Deutsche Kraftstoff- und Mi ... * Relative effectiveness factor (RE) Explosives ...
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Torpex
Torpex is a secondary explosive, 50% more powerful than TNT by mass. Torpex comprises 42% RDX, 40% TNT and 18% powdered aluminium. It was used in the Second World War from late 1942, at which time some used the names Torpex and RDX interchangeably, much to the confusion of today's historical researchers. The name is short for ''torpedo explosive''. Torpex proved to be particularly useful in underwater munitions because the aluminium component had the effect of making the explosive pulse last longer, which increased the destructive power. Besides torpedoes, naval mines, and depth charges, Torpex was only used in the Upkeep, Tallboy and Grand Slam bombs as well as the drones employed in Operation Aphrodite. Torpex has long been superseded by H6 and Polymer-bonded explosive (PBX) compositions. It is therefore regarded as obsolete and Torpex is unlikely to be encountered except in old munitions or unexploded ordnance, although a notable exception to this is the Sting Ray ligh ...
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Hexanite
Hexanite was a castable German military explosive developed early in the 20th century before the First World War for the Kaiserliche Marine, intended to augment supplies of trinitrotoluene (TNT), which were then in short supply. Hexanite is slightly less powerful than TNT on its own. The most common hexanite formula (by weight) was 60% TNT and 40% hexanitrodiphenylamine. Typically, hexanite was used in underwater naval weapons e.g. warheads for the G7a and G7e series torpedoes and the main explosive charge in aluminium-cased buoyant, moored "EMF" magnetic mines capable of being laid by U-boats in of water. This explosive is regarded as obsolete, so any hexanite-filled munitions encountered will be in the form of unexploded ordnance dating from the Second World War. The Japanese used this in World War II as explosive compound types 97 and 98. See also * Minol * Torpex * Amatol Amatol is a highly explosive material made from a mixture of TNT and ammonium nitrate. The Brit ...
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Composition H6
__NOTOC__ Composition H6 is a castable military explosive mixture composed of the following percentages by weight: * 44.0% RDX * 29.5% TNT * 21.0% powdered aluminium * 5.0% paraffin wax as a phlegmatizing agent. * 0.5% calcium chloride H6 is used in a number of military applications, notably underwater munitions (e.g. naval mines, depth charges and torpedoes) where it has generally replaced torpex, being less shock-sensitive and having more stable storage characteristics. It is approximately 1.35 times more powerful than pure TNT. Properties * Density: 1.72 g/cm3 * Velocity of detonation: 7,367 m/s See also * Torpex * Tritonal * Minol *Amatol *Composition C The Composition C family is a family of related US-specified plastic explosives consisting primarily of RDX. All can be moulded by hand for use in demolition work and packed by hand into shaped charge devices. Variants have different proportions ... References Explosives {{explosive-stub ...
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Amatol
Amatol is a highly explosive material made from a mixture of TNT and ammonium nitrate. The British name originates from the words ammonium and toluene (the precursor of TNT). Similar mixtures (one part dinitronaphthalene and seven parts ammonium nitrate) were known as Schneiderite in France. Amatol was used extensively during World War I and World War II, typically as an explosive in military weapons such as aircraft bombs, shells, depth charges, and naval mines.Brown, G. I. (1998). ''The Big Bang: A History of Explosives''. Sutton Publishing . pp. 158-163. It was eventually replaced with alternative explosives such as Composition B, Torpex, and Tritonal. Invention Following the Shell Crisis of 1915 in which the UK did not have enough ordnance due to a lack of explosives, a team at the Royal Arsenal laboratories produced a mixture of ammonium nitrate and TNT, known as Amatol for short. Special factories were constructed for the manufacture of ammonium nitrate by the double dec ...
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Obsolete
Obsolescence is the state of being which occurs when an object, service, or practice is no longer maintained or required even though it may still be in good working order. It usually happens when something that is more efficient or less risky replaces it. The international standard IEC 62402:2019 Obsolescence Management defines obsolescence as the "transition from available to unavailable from the manufacturer in accordance with the original specification". Obsolete also refers to something that is already disused or discarded, or antiquated. Typically, obsolescence is preceded by a gradual decline in popularity. Consequences Driven by rapid technological changes, new components are developed and launched on the market with increasing speed. The result is a dramatic change in production methods of all components and their market availability. A growing industry sector is facing issues where life cycles of products no longer fit together with life cycles of required component ...
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Polymer Bonded Explosive
Polymer-bonded explosives, also called PBX or plastic-bonded explosives, are explosive materials in which explosive powder is bound together in a matrix using small quantities (typically 5–10% by weight) of a synthetic polymer. PBXs are normally used for explosive materials that are not easily melted into a casting, or are otherwise difficult to form. PBX was first developed in 1952 at Los Alamos National Laboratory, as RDX embedded in polystyrene with dioctyl phthalate plasticizer. HMX compositions with teflon-based binders were developed in 1960s and 1970s for gun shells and for Apollo Lunar Surface Experiments Package (ALSEP) seismic experiments, although the latter experiments are usually cited as using hexanitrostilbene (HNS). Potential advantages Polymer-bonded explosives have several potential advantages: * If the polymer matrix is an elastomer (rubbery material), it tends to absorb shocks, making the PBX very insensitive to accidental detonation, and thus ...
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Potassium Nitrate
Potassium nitrate is a chemical compound with the chemical formula . This alkali metal nitrate salt is also known as Indian saltpetre (large deposits of which were historically mined in India). It is an ionic salt of potassium ions K+ and nitrate ions NO3−, and is therefore an alkali metal nitrate. It occurs in nature as a mineral, niter (or ''nitre'' in the UK). It is a source of nitrogen, and nitrogen was named after niter. Potassium nitrate is one of several nitrogen-containing compounds collectively referred to as saltpeter (or ''saltpetre'' in the UK). Major uses of potassium nitrate are in fertilizers, tree stump removal, rocket propellants and fireworks. It is one of the major constituents of gunpowder (black powder). In processed meats, potassium nitrate reacts with hemoglobin and myoglobin generating a red color. Etymology Potassium nitrate, because of its early and global use and production, has many names. Hebrew and Egyptian words for it had the co ...
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G-force
The gravitational force equivalent, or, more commonly, g-force, is a measurement of the type of force per unit mass – typically acceleration – that causes a perception of weight, with a g-force of 1 g (not gram in mass measurement) equal to the conventional value of gravitational acceleration on Earth, ''g'', of about . Since g-forces indirectly produce weight, any g-force can be described as a "weight per unit mass" (see the synonym specific weight). When the g-force is produced by the surface of one object being pushed by the surface of another object, the reaction force to this push produces an equal and opposite weight for every unit of each object's mass. The types of forces involved are transmitted through objects by interior mechanical stresses. Gravitational acceleration (except certain electromagnetic force influences) is the cause of an object's acceleration in relation to free fall. The g-force experienced by an object is due to the vector sum of ...
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