A low explosive is a combustible substance that decomposes rapidly (deflagration), but doesn't explode under normal conditions. Under certain conditions, though, it is possible for them to detonate, usually through the combined use with high explosives.
Explosives are grouped into two main classes, lowexplosives, which burn at rates of inches per second, and high explosives, which undergo detonation at rates of from 914 to 9140 m per sec (1000 to 10,000 yd per sec).
Explosives used as propellants in rifles and cannon should burn still more slowly, as they are required to deliver a steadily increasing push to the projectile in the barrel of the gun rather than a sudden shock which, if strong enough, might break the gun.
Two types of explosive are in general use for the propulsion of projectiles in firearms and rockets, and both are commonly called by the generic name of smokeless powder.
An explosive is defined as ‘a material which, when suitably initiated, decomposes with the rapid formation of a large volume of gas at high temperature’.
Explosives may be solid, liquid or gaseous, and may be single substances or mixtures of different substances.
Explosive Safety Certificates typically report : ‘sensitiveness to direct mechanical shock’, ‘sensitiveness to friction’, temperature of ignition’, ‘inflammability’, ‘behaviour on inflammation’, ‘chemical stability’, ‘special precautions’, ‘poisonous ingredients’, ‘method of preparing and filling’, and ‘general precautions to be observed during manufacture and use’.
Feeds |
Contact