High density thermite mixture for shaped charge ordnance disposal

Abstract

The effect of thermite mixture based on aluminum and ferric oxides for ammunition neutralization has been studied and tested. Thermochemical calculations have been carried out for different percentage of Al using Chemical Equilibrium Code to expect the highest performance thermite mixture used for shaped charge ordnance disposal. Densities and enthalpy of different formulations have been calculated and demonstrated. The optimized thermite formulation has been prepared experimentally using cold iso-static pressing technique, which exhibited relatively high density and high burning rate thermite mixture. The produced green product compacted powder mixture was tested against small caliber shaped charge bomblet for neutralization. Theoretical and experimental results showed that the prepared thermite mixture containing 33% of aluminum as a fuel with ferric oxide can be successfully used for shaped charge ordnance disposal.