Measurement of Velocity of Detonation (VOD) of Explosives using Dautriche and Electronic Methods

Abstract

The velocity of detonation (VoD) is a critical measure of
attribute of explosive material. The efficiency of an explosive constantly relies upon velocity of detonation (VoD). The ability and strength of explosive produce fracture in solid structure inturn make fragmentations, determines the effectiveness of the blast performed. It is an undenied and well-established reality that the measuring rate of detonation providesa good indication of the strength and hence the performance of the explosive.
Devices used to measure VoD are always destroyed in the process, however replacing these devices represents a considerable cost in the characterization of new explosives. This thesis addresses the measurement of the velocity of detonation using Dautriche method that was performed at IDL explosive laboratory,Rourkela. The VoDs obtained are in the range of 3000-5000 m/s.The design and implementation of two point to point VoD measurement system using thin insulated twisted copper wire sensor and thin gauge copper wire. The first technique involves the shorting of contacts of twisted copper wires while the second one involves opening of copper wire by breaking mechanism. The time taking from one point of the sensorto another point of the sensor(i.e. elapsed time) is measured by calculating the pulse duration from inserted copper wire sensors. The VoD calculation was done by simple formula, V=d/t, where ‘d’ is fixed distance between sensors and, ‘t’ is the time measured by the counter-timer device. The circuits are designed to operate for the sensor reactions accordingly.By using proposed methods,the VoD is estimated in the range of 2000-7000 m/s.With fully developed electronic devices in combination with IoT there is a further scope for application of developed software and hardware in the field experimental trailsfor estimation of VoD of explosives.