J. Edmund Hay Introduction: The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) requested the U.S. Bureau of Mines to conduct tests on explosive substances and articles in support of the involvement of both agencies with the United Nations (UN) Group of Experts on Explosives pursuant to the development of an international classification system for explosive substances and …
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Month:January 2007
Brief Survey of Chromium Toxicity
Monona Rossol I recently read some information in the pyrotechnic literature[1] about chromium toxicity, which, unfortunately, was not completely correct. Since there are some serious health concerns regarding chromium, this brief article has been written to present a survey of some of what is known.[2–4] Chromium (Cr) is probably the most complicated of the metals …
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Commercial Developments in Red Phosphorus Performance and Stability for Pyrotechnics
Sebastian Hoerold and Andrew Ratcliff ABSTRACT: Red phosphorus has become an essential ingredient in the production of modern smoke and obscurant devices. Nearly all multispectral developmental projects are being based on the new versions of red phosphorus available from Clariant. In pyrotechnics and munitions, phosphine liberated by the traditional red phosphorusbased smoke compounds may diffuse …
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Pyrotechnic Reaction Residue Particle Identification by SEM / EDS
K. L. & B. J. Kosanke and Richard C. Dujay ABSTRACT: Today the most reliable method for detecting gunshot residue is through the combined use of scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) of the resulting X-rays. In recent years, this same methodology has found increasing use in detecting and characterizing pyrotechnic reaction …
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Review of: Incendiary Art: The Representation of Fireworks in Early Modern Europe – Kevin Salatino
Incendiary Art: The Representation of Fireworks in Early Modern Europe Kevin Salatino Review by Jim Malek This is a richly documented paperback book, one of the series called Bibliographies & Dossiers from the Getty Research Institute for the History of Art and the Humanities, documenting an exhibit held at the Institute in 1999. It contains …
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Pressure, Plume Flicker, and Acoustic Data Correlation in Labscale Hybrid Rockets
Mary Fran. Desrochers, Gary W. Olsen, Chris Luchini, and M. Keith Hudson ABSTRACT: The development of the hybrid rocket motor has been plagued by combustion instabilities. These are usually monitored as fluctuations in chamber pressure and are on the order of tens of Hz in frequency. Previous work using our labscale hybrid system has also …
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Review of: The Big Bang A History of Explosives – George I. Brown
The Big Bang A History of Explosives George I. Brown Review by Dave Caulkins George Brown’s The Big Bang, subtitled A History of Explosives is a good popular treatment of explosives from the ninth century AD to modern times. The first third of the book is taken up with gunpowder, starting with its obscure origins in …
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Fireworks Shell Drift due to Shell-to-Bore Clearance
Randall K. Norton ABSTRACT: For fireworks aerial shells, decreasing shellto- bore clearance and increasing mortar length appear to have the effect of increasing the predictability of fireworks aerial shell trajectories, and thus dud aerial shell impact points. Some geometrical considerations are given to the influence of mortar length and shell-to-bore clearance on apparent aerial shell …
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An Observation Regarding: “Fireworks Shell Drift due to Shell-to-Bore Clearance”
K. L. Kosanke ABSTRACT: Some empirical evidence is presented in support of a recent suggestion by R. K. Norton that a significant portion of aerial shell drift may simply be the result of shell-to-bore clearance. The support for this stems from the observation that aerial shells, during the very earliest portion of their free flight, …
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Pyrotechnic Delays and Thermal Sources
M. A. Wilson and R. J. Hancox ABSTRACT: The technology associated with pyrotechnic delays, together with the many factors, both physical and chemical, that affect the performance of delay compositions and influence the design of delay elements have been outlined. The production of heat by thermite and thermate systems is similarly discussed. Keywords: pyrotechnics, gassy …
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