U.S. patent number 3,613,582 [Application Number 04/749,067] was granted by the patent office on 1971-10-19 for hollow charge having a directed explosive effect.
Invention is credited to Reijo Levamaki, Tapani Suhonen, Mikko Vehvilainen.
United States Patent |
3,613,582 |
Levamaki , et al. |
October 19, 1971 |
HOLLOW CHARGE HAVING A DIRECTED EXPLOSIVE EFFECT
Abstract
A hollow charge is adapted for underwater demolition operations
and has a directed explosive effect, the charge being provided with
a cavity at its front end relative to the direction of the
explosion, the cavity enlarging towards the front end. The charge
has metal walls or a metal sheathing so that, on the occurrence of
the explosion, a part of the metal is formed into a thin metal
stream which is directed forwards at high speed. The charge
comprises an outer cone forming the shell of the charge, and a
regularly shaped inner cone at the front part of the charge,
enlarging towards its front end, the cones forming the cavity. A
cover seals the back part of the outer cone and a base closes the
front part.
Inventors: |
Levamaki; Reijo (Helsinki,
SF), Vehvilainen; Mikko (Jokela, SF),
Suhonen; Tapani (Helsinki, SF) |
Family
ID: |
8507616 |
Appl.
No.: |
04/749,067 |
Filed: |
July 31, 1968 |
Foreign Application Priority Data
|
|
|
|
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Oct 19, 1967 [SF] |
|
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2812/67 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
102/306 |
Current CPC
Class: |
F42B
3/08 (20130101); F42B 1/02 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
F42B
3/08 (20060101); F42B 3/00 (20060101); F42B
1/00 (20060101); F42B 1/02 (20060101); F42b
001/02 () |
Field of
Search: |
;102/20,24HC,56 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Pendegrass; Verlin R.
Claims
We claim:
1. A hollow charge having a directed explosive effect and
comprising a hollow body with a front and back, said body including
an outer shell of frustoconical shape and an inner metal shell of
conical shape, the shells both diverging toward the front of the
body, a base of flexible plastic material including a U-shaped rim
joining said shells at the front ends thereof and flexed to cover
the front of said body, a cover of flexible plastic material on
said outer shell at the back of the body defining a closed space
between the shells, an explosive charge contained in said closed
space, and detonation means carried by said cover and extending
forwardly into said space between the shells for detonating the
explosive charge in said space to cause the inner metal shell to be
melted and a part thereof formed into a thin metal jet which is
propelled through the front of the body thereof to produce
vaporization of surrounding water when the charge is submerged
during underwater demolition work.
2. A hollow charge as claimed in claim 1 comprising means on said
cover for press fitting the same on said outer shell.
3. A hollow charge as claimed in claim 2 wherein said rim of said
base includes means for locking the base on said shells when joined
thereto, said U-shaped rim of the base permitting press-fit joinder
of the shells and the base.
4. A hollow charge as claimed in claim 3 comprising a plastic plug
in said inner conical shell at the apex thereof, said plug closing
said inner shell.
Description
The invention relates to a hollow charge, adapted for underwater
demolition and having a directed explosive effect, the charge being
provided with a cavity at its front end relative to the direction
of the explosion, the cavity enlarging towards the front end and
having metal walls or a metal sheathing so that, on the occurrence
of the explosion, a part of the metal is formed into a thin metal
stream which is directed forwards at high speed. Specifically the
charge comprises an outer cone forming the shell of the charge, and
a regularly shaped inner cone at the front part of the charge,
enlarging towards its front end, the cones forming the cavity while
a cover seals the back part of the outer cone and a base closes the
front part.
Until now it has been thought that hollow charges already known
will not produce the required performance and nozzle effect unless
rapid (detonation wave up to 8,000 m./sec.) explosive materials are
used. However, a charge constructed in accordance with the
invention will give the required performance using ammonium nitrate
explosives (e.g. anite), dynamite or any of the other usual types
of slow explosive, having a detonation wave speed of under 3,000
m./sec.
With the invention, safety explosives (slow civil explosives) have
been used in a hollow charge for the first time, and the result
achieved has been at least as effective as with rapid explosives
(e.g.) nitroglycerine gelatine charge). This invention provides an
effective hollow charge in which safety explosives can be used,
especially appropriate for civil use, since the use of safety
explosives involves no danger and the charge can, for example, be
loaded on the site.
The manufacture of the charge in accordance with this invention is
relatively cheap, not only because of the advantages gained in
using safety explosives, but also because of the materials used in
constructing the charge itself. The outer cone, cover and base are
preferably made from plastic, and the inner cone can be made from
steelplate.
In the types of hollow charge already known (for rapid explosives),
the inner cone is usually made of copper instead of steelplate, and
in fact a satisfactory performance cannot be achieved using
steelplate in those known hollow charges.
The tests carried out on the hollow charge made in accordance with
the invention have given surprisingly good results. It has been
discovered that in a hollow charge of this type, the speed of
ammonium nitrate (anite), which is a slow explosive, almost doubles
on reaching the steel surface. The reason for this is still
unknown. On the occurrence of the explosion approximately 60
percent of the steel melts into a steam which can penetrate, for
example, through a wall of 1.5 meter thickness.
With reference to the above, it is characteristic of the hollow
charge in accordance with the invention that the hollow charge
contains slow civil explosives, e.g. ammonium nitrate or other
similar material having a detonation speed of 5,000 m./sec.
The said hollow charge can be used in explosions both on land and
underwater. On land, its general application is as a hole digging
or frozen ground charge, but it can also be used for several other
purposes.
Good and promising results have been obtained from the underwater
tests carried out. Until now the procedure for carrying out
underwater explosions has been to drill a hole in the underwater
object (e.g. stone, rock) with suitable equipment, and then to
place the charge in the hole and detonate it. However, the deeper
the location of the object, the more difficult is the
operation.
Surprisingly however, when using hollow charges in accordance with
the invention, underwater explosions can be carried out simply,
without danger and, above all, very effectively. The work becomes
more difficult as the depth increases using the known method, but,
using this method in accordance with the invention, the explosive
power increases the deeper the explosion takes place. This is
caused by the direct pressure wave of the water which increases the
power.
Other advantages and characteristics of the invention are described
in the following, with reference to the enclosed drawings, in
which:
FIG. 1 shows a partial longitudinal cross-sectional view of the
outer cone;
FIG. 2 is a cross section taken along line A--A in FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 shows a partial longitudinal cross-sectional view of the
cover;
FIG. 4 is a partial longitudinal cross-sectional view of the
base;
FIG. 5 is a partial longitudinal cross-sectional view of an
assembled charge; and
FIGS. 6a-6b, 7 and 8 are diagrammatic illustrations showing the use
of the charge in underwater applications.
The charge in accordance with the invention is made up of an outer
cone 1, an inner cone 2, a base 3 and a cover 4. The space between
the outer and the inner cone is filled with the explosive. The
outer cone, the base and the cover are preferably made of plastic
material such as polyethene. In the known types of charge they are
manufactured from metal plate and thus the fixing and exact tight
fitting of the base and cover requires accuracy and time. In
accordance with the invention, the base 3, which is made of
flexible polyethene, has a rim of U-shape, the upward rising edge
of which has a shoulder 5, which engages a groove 6, in the front
part of the outer cone, the front edges of the inner and outer
cones thus becoming locked in the said U-shaped rim. The cover 4,
which is also manufactured from flexible polyethene, has a central
part in the form of a detonation cylinder 7 which is directed
downwards, and a rim forming a vertical flange 8, the edge of which
is bent outwards to form a collar 9. An inward by turned edge 10 of
the upper part of the outer cone is fitted under the collar 9. The
base and cover can thus be attached to the outer cone and the inner
cone simply by pressing the base and cover into place, since the
flexible plastic material bends. This significantly decreases the
manufacturing costs.
It has previously been thought that the inner cone should be
seamless. However, in the charge in accordance with the invention
it can have an open seam without any effect on its operation. This
significantly decreases the manufacturing costs. The seam of the
inner cone need only be sealed with, for example, electrical tape
or similar material. A hole can even be left in the top of the
inner cone provided that it is closed, for example with a
polyethene plug 11.
The thickness of the material of the inner cone 2, depends on the
amount of explosive. The greater the amount of explosive the
greater should be the thickness. For example, when using 1kg. of
explosive the thickness is 1.5 mm. and with 1.5 kg. it is 2.0
mm.
The drawing show a charge having 1.kg. of explosive. The dimensions
are as follows: Inner cone: cone angle 60.degree., height 107 mm.,
thickness of material 1.5 mm. Outer cone: inside diameter of the
front part 127 mm., inside diameter of the back part 66 mm., height
205 mm.
The wall of the outer cone forms an angle of <30.degree. with
the vertical. When the explosive between the cones is detonated,
using a detonator located in the upper part, the detonation wave is
directed towards the outer walls of the inner cone, causing the
cone to be compressed from the back to the front, and approximately
60 percent, by weight, of the inner wall to melt to a temperature
of 50,000.degree. C. The molted metal nozzle then begins to move
straight along the central axis, the initial value of the speed
being approximately 8,000 m./sec. when using ammonium nitrate as an
explosive. The penetration ability of the nozzle, when using 1 kg.
of explosive is:
frozen ground, stony approximately 0.5- 1 m. depending on stone
content concrete 1- 1.5 m. armor plate 0.2 m. rock 0.3 m.
The larger the charge, the better the penetration ability.
When carrying out underwater blasting the procedure is that the
diver locates the charge on the surface of the object to be blasted
(on the top, at the side or below) so that the nozzle is directed
in its most effective manner. The best possible result when
breaking stones for example, is to place the charge under a stone,
so that the nozzle penetrating the stone, together with the
pressure wave transmitted by the water breaks a far larger stone
than is possible in free air. To gain entrance under the stone, a
charge is first exploded beside the stone with the nozzle directed
beneath the stone so that all the loose material will be cleared
away. The charge can then be located beneath the stone. Location of
the charge under the stone by drilling is impossible. The deeper
the explosion occurs the more effective it is. The size and number
of the charges naturally depends upon the size and shape of the
object. It can be stated, for comparison, that the breaking of a 1
m.sup.3 stone at a depth of 10 meters can cost more than 100 FMK
(Finmark) using conventional methods. When using the method in
accordance with the invention the cost would be only approximately
30 FMK. Furthermore, an airline diver is not required since a
frogman can locate the charges in position. Neither are any
machines required to break up stones or other objects.
FIGS. 6a-6b, 7 and 8 illustrate the explosion of underwater
objects. In the example shown in FIG. 6a a hollow is first blasted
under the stone 12, using charge 13. The actual blasting operation
is then carried out with charge 15, located in the hollow 14, and
charge 16 placed on the opposite side. The explosion shown in FIG.
7 is carried out using charges 17 and 18. In FIG. 8 three charges,
19, 20 and 21 are used.
Stone, rock, bedrock and other objects can be blasted using the
method in accordance with the invention. It has proved to be an
extremely effective and rapid method of blasting in
channel-clearing operations.
* * * * *