OXIDATIVE DETONATIONS INITIATED BY HIGH VELOCITY IMPACTS

Abstract : Aluminum sheets (0.25 and 0.30 mm thick) retaining oxygen at one atmosphere have been observed to burst when impacted with steel and aluminum spheres (3.2 mm diameter) at velocities beyond 5.8 and 6.3 Km/sec, respectively. Visible deposits of aluminum and iron oxide, target sheet bulges, strong light intensities, and pressure gauge traces of detonation waves indicate that the bursting pressures were caused by the violent oxidation of steel and aluminum. Evidence of such reactions were detected over a wide range of impact velocities (4.88 to 8.02 Km/sec) and the violence of the reaction was found to be a function of the velocity. Other tests showed that both the projectile and the target participate in the formation of detonations and that other factors determining the strength of such detonations are the concentration of oxygen and the amount of impacted metal susceptible to oxidation.