O-208 Fragmentation From Detonations And Less Violent Munition Responses

An increasing number of munitions now show less violent responses than detonation in cook off or impact scenarios. The detonation of a warhead typically leads to well reproducible fragmentation effects. Deflagrations and explosions may still rupture the munition casing, but fragmentation is typically limited to just a few large fragments with a relatively low velocity. Fragmentation modelling has evolved significantly with increasingly realistic predictions, even for less violent explosions and deflagrations. 

 

Although deflagrating warheads produce only a few fragments, these fragments may reach large distances. Conventional safety distances are not well suited for this situation. Estimates of deflagrating warhead fragment trajectories can be done assuming plate-like fragments. For illustration purposes a simple model of Individual and Group Risk was applied to a case study comparing detonating and deflagrating warheads. A risk based approach holds the advantage that also other relevant aspects can be taken into account, such as a lower probability of initiation, the nature of the ammunition activities, population density, and whether exposed persons are related (personnel) or unrelated (third parties).