title: Characteristics of Composition B particles from blow-in-place detonations.
abstract: We sampled residues from high-order and low-order blow-in-place detonations of mortars and projectiles filled with Composition B (Comp B), a TNT and RDX mixture. Our goals were to (1) characterize the types of explosive particles, (2) estimate the explosive 'footprint' 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.
authors.affiliation: US Army Engineer Research and Development Center, Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory, Hanover, NH 03755, USA. Susan.Taylor@erdc.usace.army.mil
authors.forename: Susan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Taylor
authors.forename: Eleanor
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Campbell
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Perovich
authors.forename: James
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lever
authors.forename: Judith
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Pennington
mesh_terms: D003460:Crystallization; D008396:Maryland; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; D010316:Particle Size