Detonation characterization of low-density emulsion explosives

Due to the wide applicability and popularity of emulsion explosives (EEs) in the industry, ongoing advancements have been made in order to better understand and optimize the capabilities of EEs. Over the recent years, work has been developed to understand the effect that additives have on the detonation phenomena, and the energetic properties of EEs. In recent studies, most emphasis has been given to energetic additives, and little information is available regarding non-energetic additives, despite their rising use in industrial applications. This work intends to do a detonation characterization of low-density EEs, using EPS as a non-energetic additive, in a concentration range of 0 % to 4 %, and consequently, an EEs density range of 1.12 g/cm(3) down to 0.49 g/cm(3). In order to characterize the detonation velocity and pressure of these EEs, different charge configurations (rectangular cross-section and cylindrical) and measurement methods (discrete and quasi-continuous) were used throughout this work. The results obtained, for these charge configurations and within EEs with these compositions and densities, display a linear behaviour for the detonation velocity, ranging from 2126 m/s up to 5581 m/s, and also for the values of the detonation pressure, varying between 3.3 GPa up to 11.7 GPa.