Increased impact sensitivity in ageing high explosives; analysis of Amatol extracted from explosive remnants of war

Abstract

Millions of tonnes of explosive remnants of war remain in nature and their volume is continuously growing. The explosive legacy of wars represents an increasing threat to the environment and societal safety and security. As munitions continue to deteriorate, harmful constituents will eventually leak into the environment, poisoning ecological receptors and contaminating the surrounding soil and groundwater. Moreover, munition deterioration due to exposure to various environmental factors may ultimately cause them to become increasingly sensitive to external stimuli and susceptible to accidental detonation. To thoroughly assess how to address these ageing munitions, we must first establish certain threshold values for safe and secure handling and final disposal of the explosive ordnance. One key factor is to establish how the impact sensitivity of the explosives evolves over time. In the present work, we investigated the high-explosive substance Amatol extracted from ageing explosive remnants of war. The results obtained in the analysis indicate that the high explosives in the examined specimens were generally much more sensitive to impact than previously assumed. Furthermore, the analysis revealed that the standardized methodology of impact sensitivity testing was insufficient for estimating the sensitivities in question, and a more careful statistical analysis is required.