O-142 MSIAC IM Databases: an efficient Toolbox to assess IM Signatures

To assist the Insensitive Munitions (IM) community, the Munitions Safety Information Analysis Center (MSIAC) began in 2002 to develop a suite of databases collecting information on the six IM tests described in STANAG 4439 Policy for Introduction and Assessment of Insensitive Munitions (MURAT). These tests are: Sympathetic Reaction, Shaped Charge Jet, Fragment Impact, Bullet Impact, Liquid Fuel/ External Fire and Slow Heating.

Until 2009, three MSIAC databases reporting munitions responses to Bullet Impact (BIRD), Fragment Impact (FRAID) and Sympathetic Reaction (SYR) stimuli were available. MSIAC has just completed its IM testing results database suite by adding two other databases, one for munitions exposed to thermal threats such as Liquid Fuel/External Fire or Slow Heating (HEAT) and the other one for shaped charge jet impact (DARTS). These databases have been developed in electronic format under  Excel2003 to facilitate their use and take advantage of Excel search features. Test set-ups, results and analyses are also reported in detail and interpretation of results is made easier by the inclusion of pictures, graphs, comments and references. Together these databases compile data from 500 publications and comprise more than 4,000 test configurations. They represent an opportunity for the IM community to easily and quickly assess for instance the IM relevance of an explosive for a particular application, the achievable IM signature for a certain type of warhead.

Information provided by these databases can be combined with other MSIAC products to get a full set of parameters on energetic material performance, sensitivity and munition vulnerability:

• EMC Energetic Material Compendium that compiles information on more than 1,200 energetic materials;
  • NEWGATES database that includes 1,450 gap test results;
  • TEMPER software that takes into account two IM threats (STANAG 4496 conicalended fragment and sympathetic reaction) and helps to assess the influence of various parameters (body thickness, EM shock sensitivity, etc) to avoid a detonation.

This paper describes the IM databases and illustrates particular examples where the information can be collected or used as input for TEMPER simulations. These examples also show that these databases are not only useful for design and modelling but also for munitions procurement and testing.