Journal
CHEMOSPHERE
Volume 65, Issue 8, Pages 1405-1413Publisher
PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD
DOI: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2006.03.077
Keywords
Composition B; blow in place detonations; distribution of explosive residue
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We sampled residues from high-order and low-order blow-in-place detonations of mortars and projectiles filled with Composition B (Comp 13), a TNT and RDX mixture. Our goals were to (1) characterize the types of explosive particles, (2) estimate the explosive 'foot-print' for different munitions, and (3) estimate the mass of Comp B remaining after each detonation. The aerial deposition of Comp B particles helps estimate how large of an area is contaminated by a low-order detonation and how best to sample residue resulting from different rounds. We found that the high-order detonations deposited microgram to milligram quantities whereas the low-order detonations deposited gram quantities of Comp B. For the high-order detonations the concentration of Comp B in the residue decreased as a function of distance from the blast. The low-order tests scattered centimeter-sized chunks and millimeter-sized or smaller particles of Comp B. The chunks were randomly scattered whereas the number of millimeter-sized particles decreased with distance from the detonation. For both high- and low-order detonations we found that the smaller munitions deposited less Comp B than the larger munitions and deposited it closer to the detonation point. Published by Elsevier Ltd.
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