Dilute Explosives

Fabrication of dilute tiles   Charge for simulating hypervelocity impact

SRI's Poulter Laboratory invented Dilute Explosive Tiles (DET) to reduce the pressure from a conventional explosive. We patented a process for diluting explosive and casting the mixture in molds to produce virtually any shape of solid, dilute explosive removing tile from mold.

By diluting the explosive, we can reduce the pressure generated from 100 to 200 kbar, typical of conventional explosives, down to 3 to 50 kbar. We fabricated a large dilute explosive charge underwater dilute explosive charge to simulate the low pressure bubble loading produced by an underwater explosion test at APG.

Another example application of DET is to simulate the effects of a liquid-filled tank impacted by a projectile at hypervelocity, an experiment that is difficult to perform for large size projectiles and targets. The projectile produces progressively lower pressures as it penetrates the fluid. Conventional explosives can be used to simulate the high pressures. We used dilute explosives to simulate the lower pressures associated with increased penetration. The final charge design accurately simulates the effects of a hypervelocity projectile.

Dilute explosive is now used in SRI's Dilute Explosive Blast Innovative Tool (DEBIT) for rendering safe large vehicle-borne bombs.