Implications of fine water mist environment on the post-detonation processes of a PE4 explosive charge in a semi-confined blast chamber

• Main Authors: Zetu Jiba, Tleyane Jonas Sono, Frederik Johannes Mostert
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: KeAi Communications Co., Ltd. 2018-10-01
• Series: Defence Technology
• Online Access: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214914718300485

The effects of a fine water mist environment in a semi-confined blast chamber on the chemical and thermodynamic processes following detonation of a 20 g PE4 explosive charge have been investigated. The effects were quantified by the analysis of pressure profiles recorded where several parameters including arrival time of the shock at the sensors, peak overpressures, specific impulse of the positive phase, period of the negative phase and the specific impulse of the multiple reflections were quantified. The effect of the fine water mist on the arrival time, peak pressures and the specific impulse of the positive phase agrees with previous findings in literature. In this paper, the focus is on the implications of the fine water mist on the negative phase and the impulse of multiple pressure reflections. The period of the negative phase was found to have increased by 40% and with higher negative peak pressure in the mist condition compared to the atmospheric condition. The activities of the multiple pressure reflections were found to have decreased considerably, both in number and in amplitude leading to lower impulses (by about 60%) for the water mist conditions. Keywords: Fine water mist, Blast mitigation, Semi-confined blast chamber, Negative phase pressure, Multiple pressure reflections