Jump to content

Trauzl lead block test

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Charles01 (talk | contribs) at 19:53, 23 June 2010 (translating Pentaerythritol tetranitrate). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

The Trauzl lead block test, also called the Trauzl test or just Trauzl, is a test used to measure the strength of explosive materials. It was developed by Isidor Trauzl in 1885.

The test is performed by loading a 10-gram foil-wrapped sample of the explosive into a hole drilled into a lead block with specific dimensions.[citation needed] The hole is then topped up with sand, and the sample is detonated electrically. After detonation, the volume increase of the cavity is measured. The result, given in cm3, is called the Trauzl number of the explosive.

A variant of the test uses an aluminium block.

Examples

Explosive power of chemical explosives by Trauzl number:

Explosive Trauzl rating
(cm³/g)
Acetone peroxide 25-33
RDX (C4/Hexogen) 45
HMTD 33
HMX (octogen) 48
Nitroglycerin 52
Pentaerythritol tetranitrate 52
TNT 30