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cylinder under the action of the shock wave originated by the detonation of a tested
explosive charge.
The determination of the brisance is based on the assumption that the lead cylinder
compression is proportional to the brisance of an explosive charge.
The brisance of an explosive may be expressed either directly via the deformation of
the lead cylinder or as a relative brisance in relation to a reference explosive.
the experimental setup for determination of the brisance by the Hess test is shown in
figure
A lead cylinder of a defined size (60 mm height and 40 mm diameter) and defined
quality is placed on a massive steel base. A 10-30 mm thick and 41.5 mm in diameter
steel disc is placed on the cylinder. The steel disc serves for the shock wave pressure
attenuation. Its thickness depends on the brisance of the explosive. The 50 g of the
tested explosive charge whose diameter is 40 mm is placed onto the steel disc.
Afterwards, all the parts are fixed by means of adhesive tape.
The explosive charge is initiated by means of a standard electric or nonelectric
detonator.
After the detonation of the explosive charge, the lead cylinder will be pressed down in a
mushroom shape as shown in Figure xx. The difference in the lead cylinder height
before and after the detonation serves as a direct measure of the brisance of the tested
explosive.
In the case of more brisant explosives or explosives charges of a higher density, the
lead cylinder may be completely destroyed. To avoid that, the thickness of the steel
disc is increased from 10 to 30 mm or the mass of the explosive charge is reduced to
25 g. When reporting the test data , the density of the explosive charge and the mass,
as well as the steel disc thickness, are also reported.
The decrease of the lead cylinder height may be reported as the test result.
For instance, trinitrotoluene having a density of 1.2 g/cc produces a decrease in the
cylinder height of 18.8 mm via a 10 mm thick steel disc, while hexogen of the same
density produces a decrease in the cylinder height of 17.2 mm via a 30 mm steel disc.
As stated, the brisance of the tested explosive may be expressed as relative brisance
relating to a reference explosive both treated under the same testing conditions. The
relative brisance is obtained as a ratio between the decreases of the cylinder height
produced by the detonation of the tested and reference explosives.