Energetic Residues from Blow-in-Place Detonation of 60-mm and 120-mm Fuzed High-Explosive Mortar Cartridges

• Main Authors: Walsh, Michael R., Collins, Charles M., Hewitt, Alan D.
• Other Authors: ENGINEER RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT CENTER HANOVER NH COLD REGIONS RESEARCH AND ENGINEERING LAB
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: 2008
• Subjects: Ammunition and Explosives; Guns; *CARTRIDGES; *MORTARS; *DETONATIONS; *UNEXPLODED AMMUNITION; *HIGH EXPLOSIVES; ICE; MISSIONS; SAMPLING; QUALITY ASSURANCE; ENERGETIC PROPERTIES; RESIDUES; RANGE SAFETY; SNOW; PROPELLANTS; FIRING TESTS(ORDNANCE); DECISION MAKING; MILITARY OPERATIONS; MILITARY FACILITIES; SERDP(STRATEGIC ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM); SERDP COLLECTION; ENERGETICS; IMPACT AREAS; MULTI-INCREMENT SAMPLING; SLOW-IN-PLANE; 60-MM PLUMES; Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory
• Online Access: http://www.dtic.mil/docs/citations/ADA491353; http://oai.dtic.mil/oai/oai?&verb=getRecord&metadataPrefix=html&identifier=ADA491353

Military live-fire training missions frequently result in unexploded ordnance on training ranges. Disposal of the rounds, often done in situ, is necessary in some cases for range safety or maintenance. In February 2008, the U.S. Army Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory teamed with the 716th Explosive Ordnance Disposal detachment at Fort Richardson, AK, to detonate two series of seven 60-mm and 120-mm fuzed high-explosive (HE) rounds to determine the resulting energetic residues. Each round was detonated using a single block of C4 (91% RDX) as a donor charge. All rounds were separated to allow each detonation plume to be sampled as a distinct decision unit. Samples were collected from the snow surface using multi-increment sampling for residues analysis. The 60-mm plumes averaged 200 mg of HE, 0.022% of the original mass. The 120-mm plumes averaged 25 mg of HE, 7.1 x 10(exp -4%) of the original mass. Quality assurance procedures were conducted both in the field and at the laboratory to ensure data fidelity. The original document contains color images.