Abstract
Detonation behavior of emulsion explosives sensitized by glass microballoons was studied. The detonation velocity and the failure diameter of emulsion explosives at various densities were measured in two charge configurations: cylindrical charges by ionization pins and conical charges by ionization pins and continuous resistance probes. The effect of microballoon size on detonation velocity and failure diameter was also determined.
The behavior of emulsion explosives showed a marked difference from that of other high explosives; the detonation velocity reached its maximum far below the maximum density; the failure diameter increased with increasing density. The detonation velocity extrapolated to infinite diameter deviated increasingly from the predictions of the BKW code and of the Kamlet method as the initial density decreased. Diameter effect curves were downward concave and the diameter effect became more pronounced with increasing density. The temperature had a negligibie effect on the detonation velocity. At a given density, the detonation velocity increased linearly with decreasing microballoon size. The increase in detonation velocity was obscured at low densities by the increasing weight of glass added. I he failure diameter had a linear relationship with the spacing between microballoons.