VELOCITY OF DETONATION OF LOW DENSITY EMULSION EXPLOSIVES

Blasting operations in built-up areas, at short distances from structures, impose new requirements on blasting techniques and properties of explosives in order to mitigate seismic effect of blasting. Explosives for civil uses are mixtures of different chemical composition of explosive and/or non-explosive substances. Chemical and physical properties, along with means of initiation, environment and the terms of application define detonation and blasting parameters of a particular type of the explosive for civil uses. Velocity of detonation is one of the most important measurable characteristics of detonation parameters which indirectly provide information about the liberated energy, quality of explosives and applicability for certain purposes. The level of shock effect of detonated charge on the rock, and therefore the level of seismic effect in the area, depends on the velocity of detonation. Since the velocity of detonation is proportional to the density of an explosive, the described research is carried out in order to determine the borderline density of the mixture of an emulsion explosive with expanded polystyrene while achieving stable detonation, and to determine the dependency between the velocity of detonation and the density of mixture.