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Improvised munitions from ammonium nitrate

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Book page imageTable of ContentsImprovised MunitionsFrom Ammonium Nitrate© 1980 by! Desert Publications P.O. Box 1751 El Dorado, AR 71731-1751 501-862-2077ISBN 0-87947-218-9 109876543 Printed in U. S. A.Desert Publication is a division of The DELTA GROUP, Ltd.Direct all inquires & orders to the above address.All rights reserved. Except for use in a review, no portion of this book may be reproduced by any means known or unknown without the express written permission of the publisher.Neither the author nor the publisher assumes any responsibility for the use or misuse of the information contained in this book.AbstractI. Introduction 1II. Discussion 3Explosives: Sensitivity and Brisance 3Ammonium Nitrate 3III. Results 9A Comparison of Products 9Evaluation of Indigenous Sensitizers 13Improvised Comminution Techniques 17Effect of Improvised ComminutionMethods on Sensitivity 21Variables Affecting Sensitivity 21Miscellaneous Sensitizers 23Alternate Initiation Methods 23IV. Conclusions 33Appendix35
Book page imageAbstractIWARNINGThe material contained herein is published in the interest of historical and technical enlightenment only. The manufacture, transportation and deto- nation of improvised munitions may be in direct violation of state and local laws as well as Fed- eral statutes and regulations governing such devices. Additionally, experimentation with unstable explosive devices is highly dangerous and may result in serious injury or even death.During the 1960’s, a program was conducted to deter- mine a safe and simple method for producing an ammonium nitrate munition using indigenous materials. Sensitivity tests were performed on mixtures of fuel oil and fertilizer grade ammonium nitrate (FGAN) to determine differences in FGAN manufactured by Stengel, prilling and crystallization processes. Prilled FGAN was selected for further testing since it functioned satisfactorily and is the most common form available. Since FGAN, either as received or finely pulverized, was insensitive to five No. 6 electric blasting caps, various indigenous materials were added to FGAN to increase sensi- tivity. Shock sensitivity and brisance of these FGAN /sensi- tizer mixtures were determined as functions of communition technique, sensitizer concentration, confinement, packing density and initiator type and size. The most sensitive explosives, as evidenced by a punctured witness plate, con- sisted of finely ground FGAN thoroughly mixed with 5 weight per cent fuel oil, motor oil, motor oil/gasoline mix- tures, ethylene glycol or paint thinner. These mixtures were reliably detonated with a single No. 8 electric blasting cap when confined in 1- or 2-inch diameter “tin” cans and beer bottles, provided that the packing density was less than 0.78 gm/cc. The FGAN sensitizer in this munition is about as brisant as riced trinitrotoluene (TNT). A set of instructions is included herein; the instructions consist of illustrated, simple, step by step procedures for fabricating fertilizerexplosives.IVv
Book page imageI. IntroductionTo assist in the compilation of an Improvised Munitions Handbook, which describes methods for fabricating weapons and for producing explosives from readily available indigenous materials, a program was undertaken to study means of sensi- tizing and/or detonating fertilizer grade ammonium nitrate (FGAN) for use as an explosive.Although FGAN may be used as an explosive when admixed with sensitizers, by itself it is insensitive to detona- tion using conventional blasting caps. Hence, materials which would be available in most areas of the world were to be evaluated as sensitizing additives which would permit detona- tion of FGAN with conventional blasting caps. Based on a thorough literature search to be undertaken at the outset of the program, as well as prior experience in explosives tech- nology, methods were to be developed for sensitizing small quantities of FGAN which could then be used as booster charges for much larger quantities of unsensitized material. This study was also to include a search for: (1) additives which would sensitize FGAN to detonation above some pre- determined threshold temperature; and (2) additives which would immediately cause detonation when added to the main charge by some mechanical means.Mixtures of FGAN and the most promising additives were to be evaluated for brisance, shock sensitivity, temperature sensitivity and related explosive parameters.The sensitizers or additives were restricted to “indigenous” materials, such as straw, wood, fuel oil, gasoline, common household chemicals, medicinals and related materials which should be available throughout the world including the “underdeveloped” or “backward” countries. In no case were materials considered which would be difficult or impossible for a guerrilla force to obtain.VI1
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Improvised munitions from ammonium nitrate


Publication date
Topics
fgan, ammonium, nitrate, blasting, sensitivity, detonation, fuel, explosive, mixtures, diameter, ammonium nitrate, fuel oil, blasting cap, cent fuel, electric blasting, detonation velocity, particle size, steel pipe, single number, improvised comminution, Explosives
Publisher
Cornville, Ariz. : Desert Publications
Collection
folkscanomy_defense; folkscanomy; additional_collections
Language
English
Improvised Cap Sensitive Mixtures from Ammonium Nitrate
Addeddate
2016-02-07 21:30:44
Foldoutcount
0
Identifier
Improvised_Cap_Sensitive_Mixtures_from_Ammonium_Nitrate
Identifier-ark
ark:/13960/t2z35tc19
Isbn
0879472189
9780879472184
Ocr
ABBYY FineReader 11.0
Pages
22
Ppi
96
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Internet Archive Python library 0.9.1
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