Flexible dilute explosive device

Abstract

A flexible dilute explosive device is provided that includes an explosive material, such as pentaerythritol tetranitrate (PETN), combined with a non-reactive matrix material, such as light-weight polymer beads, and the combination is held in flexible packaging. The flexible packaging includes fabric, antistatic, evacuated and plastic housings. The flexible dilute explosive device can be applied to any contoured shape in the field. It has a total density that is typically between 5 to 10% greater than its explosive density and can be reliably detonated at lower explosive densities. By using different packaging methods, the flexible dilute explosive device can be made to have a fixed explosive density, or a field tailored explosive density using a variable volume housing. It can have a reduced explosive density by adding inert foam blocks to the combination, having an overall volumetric explosive density reduced to 2.5 lb/ft3 (0.04 g/cm3).

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.