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Relative effectiveness factor or R.E. factor is a measurement of an explosive's power for military demolitions purposes. It is used to compare an explosives effectiveness relative to TNT by weight only. This is so engineers can substitute one explosive for another when they are figuring out blasting equations that are designed for TNT. For example, if a timber cutting charge requires 1 kg of TNT to work, it would take 0.6 kg of PETN or 1.25 kg of ANFO to have the same effect. All of these values are speculative and unverified. Please at least attempt to verify before you edit! Blogs and forums are not an acceptable reference source!
Some R.E. factor examples
| Explosive, Grade | Density g/cm³ |
Detonation Vel.m/s |
R.E. |
|---|---|---|---|
| TNT | 1.654 | 6,900 | 1.00 |
| Amatol, 80%TNT+20%AN | 1.548 | 6,570 | 1.17 |
| Ammonium nitrate | 1.123 | 5,270 | 0.42 |
| ANFO, 94.3%AN+5.7%FuelOil | 0.84 | 5,270 | 0.8 |
| C-3 | 1.34 | ||
| C-4,91%RDX | 1.737 | 8,040 | 1.34 |
| Composition B,63%RDX+36%TNT | 1.751 | 8,000 | 1.35 |
| Gunpowder,75%KN+15%C+10%S | 1.7 | var.w/Sulfur | 0.55 |
| HMX | 1.91 | 9,100 | 1.70 |
| Nitroglycerin | 1.6 | 7,700 | 1.50 |
| Nuclear weapon yield | 19.1 | 250 | <6M |
| PETN | 1.773 | 8,400 | 1.66 |
| RDX | 1.82 | 8,750 | 1.60 |
| Semtex, 94.3%PETN+5.7%RDX | 1.776 | 8,420 | 1.66 |
| Tetryl | 1.73 | 7,570 | 1.25 |
| Tetrytol, 70%Tetryl+30%TNT | 1.707 | 7,370 | 1.20 |
| Explosive, Grade | Density (g/cm³) |
Detonation Vel. (m/s) |
R.E. |
Note: Practical Nuclear weapons have reached from 400 kg(TNTe)/kg up to 5,200,000 kg(TNTe)/kg.
References
- Cooper, Paul W., Explosives Engineering, New York: Wiley-VCH, 1996. ISBN 0-471-18636-8
- HQ Dept of the Army, Field Manual 5-25 Explosives and Demolitions, pp 83-84, Washington DC: Pentagon, 1967 ISBN 0-975-90095-1
See also
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- This page was last modified on 25 July 2008, at 16:25.
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