Course description
This module will demonstrate how initiation of a reaction in a potentially detonable substance or composition can escalate to full detonation.
Upcoming start dates
Suitability - Who should attend?
Students must have successfully completed the Introduction to Explosives Engineering course or have relevant experience in order to take this as a Short Course for Credit.
There are no prerequisites if taken as a Standalone Short Course.
Outcome / Qualification etc.
What you will learn
On successful completion of this module a student should be able to:
- Identify key contents of UK MoD standards and associated test documentation relevant to the approval of explosives, and articles containing explosives;
- Critique the main methods to measure explosives performance (detonation velocity, pressure, critical diameter) and other properties of energetic materials;
- Critically review the importance, relevance and limitations of different instrumentation techniques, and their selection and applicability to experimental research and test data gathering;
- Interpret and draw conclusions from given experimental data, and critically review the validity of others’ conclusions.
Training Course Content
Core content
Testing and evaluation methods:
- Powder and handling tests;
- Charge-scale tests;
- Weapon-scale and system-scale tests;
- Influence of the environment on the reliability and safety of weapons and other systems containing energetic materials;
- Ageing and life assessment of weapons and other systems containing energetic materials.
Documentation:
- UK Relevant JSPs;
- Allied Ordnance Publications (AOPs);
- NATO Standardisation Agreements (STANAGS);
- UN ‘Orange Book’ Manual of Tests;
- UK EMTAP Manual of Tests.
Test Methods Development:
- Experimental methods development;
- Physical and chemical methods as diagnostics for test data;
- Introduction to ‘Smart’ testing approaches (to be explored in more depth in the Design for Munitions Safety module).
Course delivery details
Course structure
This course is delivered through lectures, case studies of explosive evaluation, and practical/demonstration on the range with a data acquisition workshop.
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Cranfield University
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