INSENSITIVE MUNITIONS SLOW COOKOFF PROTECTION CONCEPTS

NAVY TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS FOR INSENSITIVE MUNITIONS, NAVSEAINST 8020.5, STATES THAT "BURNING" IS THE ONLY ACCEPTABLE REACTION TO THE MIL-STD-2105 SLOW COOK-OFF TEST. TYPICAL REACTIONS IN THIS TEST ARE DETONATIONS OR PARTIAL DETONATIONS. ENERGETIC MATERIALS EXPOSED TO ELEVATED TEMPERATURES, UNDERGO A SLOW CHEMICAL REACTION, FINALLY REACHING A POINT OF AUTOCATALYTIC DECOMPOSITION, RESULTING IN VERY VIOLENT REACTIONS. A GREAT DEAL OF DATA HAS BEEN GENERATED ON MUNITIONS SLOW COOK-OFF TESTED. HOWEVER, THE INFORMATION IS SCATTERED, AND NOT AVAILABLE TO MUNITION DESIGNERS, OR TO SCIENTISTS ATTEMPTING TO DEVELOP PREDICTIVE MODELS, THAT CAN LEAD TO MINIMUM REACTIONS TO THIS TYPE OF THERMAL INPUT. THE SPECIFIC OBJECTIVE OF THE PHASE I WORK IS TO OBTAIN AND CATALOGUE SLOW AND FAST COOK-OFF DATA FROM THE NAVY LABORATORIES AND CENTERS. THESE DATA WILL BE USED TO DEVELOP A PREDICTIVE MODEL TO HELP WEAPON DESIGNERS UNDERSTAND AND DESIGN MUNITIONS THAT WILL ONLY BURN RATHER DETONATE WHEN EXPOSED TO SLOW TO INTERMEDIATE THERMAL INPUT.