Detasheet is a flexible rubberized

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 expl ...

, somewhat similar to

plastic explosive Plastic explosive is a soft and hand-moldable solid form of explosive material. Within the field of explosives engineering, plastic explosives are also known as putty explosives or blastics. Plastic explosives are especially suited for explos ...

s, originally manufactured by

DuPont DuPont de Nemours, Inc., commonly shortened to DuPont, is an American multinational chemical company first formed in 1802 by French-American chemist and industrialist Éleuthère Irénée du Pont de Nemours. The company played a major role in ...

. Its ingredients are

PETN Pentaerythritol tetranitrate (PETN), also known as PENT, PENTA, (ПЕНТА, primarily in Russian) TEN, corpent, or penthrite (or, rarely and primarily in German, as nitropenta), is an explosive material. It is the nitrate ester of pentaerythri ...

with

nitrocellulose Nitrocellulose (also known as cellulose nitrate, flash paper, flash cotton, guncotton, pyroxylin and flash string, depending on form) is a highly flammable compound formed by nitrating cellulose through exposure to a mixture of nitric acid and ...

and a binder.

Properties

It was manufactured in thin flexible sheets with a rubbery texture, technically known as a rubberized explosive and is generally colored either reddish/orange (commercial) or green (military). In use, it is typically cut to shape for precision

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the l ...

ing charges. Compared to other explosives detasheet is very stable. It is detonated with a

blasting cap A detonator, frequently a blasting cap, is a device used to trigger an explosive device. Detonators can be chemically, mechanically, or electrically initiated, the last two being the most common. The commercial use of explosives uses electri ...

or primercord but not by

small-arms A firearm is any type of gun designed to be readily carried and used by an individual. The term is legally defined further in different countries (see Legal definitions). The first firearms originated in 10th-century China, when bamboo tubes ...

fire, heat, water, pressure, or concussion. Detasheet is relatively expensive compared to other explosives.

Ingredients

Detasheet C, the last and most common version produced, was made up of 63% PETN, 8% nitrocellulose, and 29%

acetyl tributyl citrate Acetyltributylcitrate is an organic compound that is used as a plasticizer. As such, it is a potential replacement of DEHP and DINP Diisononyl phthalate (DINP) is a phthalate used as a plasticizer. DINP is typically a mixture of chemical compound ...

(ATBC), an organic

plasticizer A plasticizer ( UK: plasticiser) is a substance that is added to a material to make it softer and more flexible, to increase its plasticity, to decrease its viscosity, and/or to decrease friction during its handling in manufacture. Plasticiz ...

Production status

DuPont ceased manufacturing explosives in the 1990s and when they did the Ensign-Bickford Aerospace and Defense Company bought their product line, including all their equipment and trademarks. The Detasheet trademark is now owned by the Ensign-Bickford Aerospace and Defense Company, which has been selling an identical explosive sheet product called

Primasheet Primasheet is a rubberized sheet explosive identical to Detasheet. Manufactured by Ensign-Bickford Aerospace & Defense Company Primasheet comes in two varieties: Primasheet 1000 is PETN based and Primasheet 2000 is RDX based. Both are waterproof ...

. since 1984. Primasheet-1000 and Detasheet are identical and when purchased the packaging contains both trademarks.

Deta Flex

A military variant of Detasheet, called Deta Flex, was manufactured in a single thickness (0.25 inch (6.25 mm)) and olive green colored. Deta Flex contains a higher percentage of PETN (70%).

LX-02-1

A version of Deta Flex is manufactured for

Department of Energy A Ministry of Energy or Department of Energy is a government department in some countries that typically oversees the production of fuel and electricity; in the United States, however, it manages nuclear weapons development and conducts energy-rel ...

research purposes, colored blue and manufactured in various thicknesses. LX-02-1 contains 73.5% PETN, 17.6%

butyl rubber Butyl rubber, sometimes just called "butyl", is a synthetic rubber, a copolymer of isobutylene with isoprene. The abbreviation IIR stands for isobutylene isoprene rubber. Polyisobutylene, also known as "PIB" or polyisobutene, (C4H8)n, is the ho ...

, 6.9% ATBC, and 2.0%

Cab-o-sil Fumed silica (CAS number 112945-52-5), also known as pyrogenic silica because it is produced in a flame, consists of microscopic droplets of amorphous silica fused into branched, chainlike, three-dimensional secondary particles which then agglom ...

References