EP2044386B1 - Pyrotechnic device for destroying ammunitions - Google Patents

Description

The invention relates to a pyrotechnic device for the controlled destruction of ammunition or objects containing pyrotechnic and / or chemical substances. Such a device is known to US-6220166-B1 .

For example, a chemical munition usually has a munition body (or envelope) having metal walls. The inside of the ammunition body contains one or more chemical products and a burst pyrotechnic charge whose role is to open its body and spread the chemicals in the atmosphere. The toxic chemical agents of some ammunition are among those known as "combat gas" and their action is irritating, suffocating, vesicant, hemotoxic or neurotoxic.

The ammunition can be in good condition or, more or less damaged according to their age of manufacture and their storage conditions. We seek to destroy these munitions in the best safety conditions for personnel and materials involved in the destruction and with the greatest efficiency of destruction of the chemicals contained in the ammunition.

Ammunition can be destroyed by various mechanical, chemical, thermal, pyrotechnic, or other processes.

• pains de plastic ;
• charges creuses ;
• cordeaux découpeurs ;
• cordeaux détonants ;
• explosifs entourant la munition: l'explosif peut se présenter sous des formes différentes soit, solides, liquides, pâteux, pulvurents ou granulaires. Dans cette procédure de destruction de la munition, l'explosif est mis en contact avec la munition et amorcé (ou initié en détonation) en un point de l'explosif.

The most common pyrotechnic processes of the state of the art use for the destruction of ammunition donor charges such as:

• plastic breads;
• hollow charges;
• chopper chords;
• detonating cords;
• explosives surrounding the ammunition: the explosive may be in different forms, solid, liquid, pasty, pulverulent or granular. In this ammunition destruction procedure, the explosive is brought into contact with the munition and initiated (or initiated into detonation) at one point of the explosive.

The state-of-the-art ammunition destruction devices, except for the cut-off cords, need the reaction of the pyrotechnic and / or chemical substances internal to the munition or the object to be destroyed in order to allow a significant opening of the munitions. their body or their envelope. They have limited effectiveness in the destruction of non-explosive chemicals, except for plastic loaves and explosives surrounding the munition. In addition, the current destruction processes generate more or less intense environmental effects (shocks, blast, pollution, heat and splinters), depending on the architecture and the explosive of the donor charge, and the reaction of the munition. or the object to be destroyed.

Other state-of-the-art methods for destroying ammunition consist in dismantling the munition into its elements and collecting the chemical and pyrotechnic products in suitable containers and then destroying them, for example by neutralization or incineration in special ovens. .

The disadvantages of such a process is that it involves many delicate operations on the ammunition with risks for the personnel in the various stages of the process aggravated when the ammunition is in bad condition, which is frequent as a result of long storage in bad conditions.

Another disadvantage of this latter method is the significant delay necessary for the destruction of the munition.

The destruction device, claimed in this patent, makes it possible to overcome the various disadvantages of the most commonly used destruction methods.

For this purpose the invention proposes a pyrotechnic device for destroying ammunition with an explosive at least partially surrounding the munition containing confinement walls of active products,
characterized in that it comprises controlled ignition means for the explosive, said means being configured to produce a detonation wave coupling of the explosive at the walls of the munition in at least two lines of aperture said walls of the munition.

Active products are pyrotechnic, chemical or other substances that may be contained in the munition.

Advantageously, the controlled ignition means comprise at least two pyrotechnic initiation strings of the explosive, each of the strands comprising a start-start end Ed and an end-of-initiation end Ef, the start-start ends. cords being connected by at least one firing means.

An initiation of the initiation cords, by known firing means, causes a propagation of the initiation of the cords from their start of initiation end to their other end end of priming with a predetermined propagation speed.

In one embodiment of the device for destroying shaped munitions approaching a cylinder of axis of revolution XX ', or objects provided with an envelope of any other shape, the controlled priming means comprise two strings of priming, in contact or near the explosive to initiate the explosion, on either side of the axis XX 'of the munition and aligned along an opening line of the walls of the ammunition.

In another embodiment of the device, intended to destroy shaped munitions approaching a cylinder axis of revolution XX ', or objects provided with an envelope of any other shape, the controlled priming means comprise two pairs P1, P2 of boot cords.

The firing means comprise, for example, an initiation detonator of the initiation cords by their start initiation ends Ed to cause the controlled detonation of the explosive according to the opening lines of the ammunition.

A main objective of the destruction device according to the invention consists in obtaining a controlled opening of the walls of the munition, or objects, without counting on the reaction of the internal substances of the munition.

Another objective is the control of the fragmentation of the body of the munition and thus reduce the effects of splinters emitted on the external environment to the destruction device.

Another objective is the destruction of the pyrotechnic and / or chemical substances of the munition.

By destruction of the ammunition we will hear in the device according to the invention the destruction of containers and contents: that is to say in particular the opening of the envelopes of the ammunition, the destruction of the pyrotechnic bursting charge, the destruction the chemical agent load.

• les figures 1a et 1b montrent un exemple de réalisation d'un dispositif de destruction de munitions selon l'invention ;
• la figure 2 montre une vue agrandie selon AA' de la figure 1b montrant le couplage d'ondes de pression ;
• la figure 3 montre, après explosion, la paroi de la munition de la figure 1b ouverte en quatre portions ;
• les figures 4a et 4b montrent une variante de réalisation du dispositif de destruction d'une munition, selon l'invention ;
• la figure 5 montre une variante de la réalisation de la figure 4b ;
• la figure 6 montre une variante plus économique de la réalisation de la figure 5.

The invention will be better understood with the aid of exemplary embodiments of destruction devices according to indexed drawings in which:

• the Figures 1a and 1b show an exemplary embodiment of an ammunition destruction device according to the invention;
• the figure 2 shows an enlarged view along AA 'of the figure 1b showing the coupling of pressure waves;
• the figure 3 shows, after explosion, the wall of the ammunition of the figure 1b open in four portions;
• the Figures 4a and 4b show an alternative embodiment of the device for destroying a munition, according to the invention;
• the figure 5 shows a variant of the realization of the figure 4b ;
• the figure 6 shows a more economical variant of the realization of the figure 5 .

The Figures 1a and 1b show an embodiment of an ammunition destruction device according to the invention.

The figure 1a shows a bottom view according to AA 'of the device of the figure 1b having a chemical munition 10 to be destroyed and the figure 1b a sectional view along BB 'of the device of the figure 1a .

The chemical munition 10 comprises, in this example, a cylindrical metal wall 12 containing a chemical product 14 and a burst pyrotechnic charge 16.

• un contenant cylindrique 30 ayant des parois internes 32 délimitant un volume comportant une charge donneuse (explosif) 36, l'explosif 36 étant entre les parois internes 32 du contenant 30 et la munition à détruire 10 ;
• deux paires P1, P2 de cordons d'amorçage C11, C21 pour la première paire P1 et C12, C22 pour la deuxième paire P2 entre les parois internes 32 du contenant 30 cylindrique et l'explosif 36, ou dans le contenant.

The device for destroying Figures 1a and 1b is of cylindrical shape along an axis of revolution XX 'and comprises:

• a cylindrical container 30 having inner walls 32 defining a volume having a donor charge (explosive) 36, the explosive 36 being between the inner walls 32 of the container 30 and the munition to be destroyed 10;
• two pairs P1, P2 of ignition cords C11, C21 for the first pair P1 and C12, C22 for the second pair P2 between the walls 32 of the cylindrical container 30 and the explosive 36, or in the container.

The initiation cords C11, C12, C21, C22 each have a start-start end Ed and an end-of-ignition end Ef and are configured in the device so that the leads C11, C21 of the pair P1 and that the cords C12, C22 of the P2 pair are separated by a predetermined angular distance α.

The angular distance α between the cords of the two pairs P1, P2 and the thickness Ep of explosive 36 are predetermined so as to obtain localized overpressures by detonation wave coupling of the explosive at the walls 12 of the ammunition strong enough to break said wall.

The cords C11, C12, C21, C22 are in this embodiment substantially parallel to the generatrix of the cylindrical inner walls 32 of the cylindrical container 30.

The cylindrical container 30 further comprises an initiation detonator 40 connected to the start initiation ends Ed of the initiation cords C11, C12, C21, C22.

We will then explain the operation of the destruction device according to the invention.

The initiation detonator 40 (see Figure 1 (b) is fired producing simultaneous firing at a time t at the four firing cords C11, C12, C21, C22. The initiation of the cords by its respective start initiation ends Ed propagates to the ends of end of initiation Ef with a propagation speed related to the characteristics of the cords.

The initiation of the cords produces the detonation of the explosive 36 propagating along lines of propagation corresponding to the lines of the cords parallel to the axis XX 'of the ammunition.

The figure 2 shows an enlarged view along AA 'of the figure 1 b showing the coupling of the pressure waves Op of the detonation at the wall 12 of the munition, in a plane Pam perpendicular to the axis of propagation of the explosion.

The simultaneous detonation of the explosive at the four initiation cords C11, C12, C21, C22 in the plane Pam perpendicular to the propagation axis of the detonation produces Mach wave-type encounters converging in zones M1, M2, then convergent wave encounters in zones M3 and M4 of the walls 12 of the munition. The convergence zone M1 on the wall 12 between the cords C11 and C22, the convergence zone M2 between the cords C12 and C21, the convergence zone M3 between the cords C11 and C21 and the convergence zone M4 between the cords C12 and C22.

Convergence in the zones M1, M2, M3, M4 of the munition wall of the detonation waves of the explosive, generate localized overpressures which propagate along the wall 12 of the munition, a start zone priming to an area of end of priming the explosive, according to the lines of the cords, causing the rupture and thus the opening of the wall of the munition along these 4 lines of propagation.

The figure 3 shows, after explosion, the wall 12 of the ammunition of the figure 1b open in four portions Pr1, Pr2, Pr3 and Pr4 whose edges correspond to the four lines of breaks created by the explosion controlled by the cords.

The explosion produces, in addition, according to another important feature of the invention, the destruction of the chemical and pyrotechnic products contained in the munition. For this purpose, the explosive may be based on aluminum producing during its detonation a fireball of long duration whose role is the destruction of chemicals in particular contained in the munition which is opened by the controlled explosion.

By way of example, in a particular embodiment of an ammunition destruction device with a diameter of less than 80 millimeters, the thickness Ep of the explosive explosive type water-in-oil emulsion is of the order of 20 millimeters. , the cylindrical container is PVC or cardboard. The initiation velocity of the priming cords is of the order of 7000 m / s and that of the explosive is of the order of 5500 m / s. The angle α between the cords C11 and C22 and between the cords C12 and C21 is between 35 ° and 45 °.

The Figures 4a and 4b show an alternative embodiment of the device for destroying a munition 50 according to the invention comprising a container 51 of parallelepiped shape. The munition 50 comprises a cylindrical metal wall 52 along the axis XX 'comprising a chemical product 54.

In this realization of the figure 4a , the container 51 is a box of rectangular section, for example of wood, cardboard or plastic (or any material generating little shards), comprising an explosive 56 surrounding the munition to destroy and filling the box.

The device comprises the two strings C11 and C12 for priming the explosive 56 on either side of the munition 50 in a plane D1 passing through the axis XX 'and near two opposite inner walls 60, 62 of the box.

In this embodiment, the overpressure waves occur in zones M5, M6 along lines of the wall 52 of the munition 50 in a plane P1 perpendicular to the plane D1 of the ignition cords C11, C12.

The figure 5 shows a variant of the realization of the figure 4a , having a starting device comprising the two pairs P1, P2 of cords (realization of the Figure 1 (b) .

The figure 6 shows a more economical variant of the realization of the figure 5 having the two pairs P1, P2 of initiation cords. In this other variant of the figure 6 an explosive 70 partially fills the box 51 partially surrounding the ammunition.

The descriptions that have been made are not limiting and, in other embodiments of the device according to the invention, the ignition cords of the explosive surrounding the munition to open can follow lines of different non-rectilinear shapes. For example lines wrapping around the wall of the munition, from one end to the other of the ammunition, so as to obtain a helically shaped opening.

• ouvrir des corps de munitions ou des enveloppes d'objets à détruire sans compter sur la réaction de leurs substances internes (substances inertes ou substances actives qui sont devenues inertes au cours du temps),
• ouvrir des munitions ou objets dont les épaisseurs de leurs corps ou de leurs enveloppes sont très variables, de quelques millimètres à plusieurs centimètres,
• ouvrir des munitions ou objets dont les caractéristiques mécaniques de leurs corps ou de leurs enveloppes sont très variables (ex. : matériau très cassant ou très ductile),
• ouvrir des munitions ou objets dont les formes sont très variées ;
• détruire la majeure partie des substances internes, notamment les produits chimiques par les effets de la boule de feu active longtemps.

The pyrotechnic device according to the invention allows the destruction of a very wide spectrum of ammunition or objects containing pyrotechnic and / or chemical substances by its ability to:

• open ammunition bodies or envelopes of objects to be destroyed without relying on the reaction of their internal substances (inert substances or active substances that have become inert over time),
• to open ammunition or objects whose thicknesses of their bodies or their envelopes are very variable, from a few millimeters to several centimeters,
• to open ammunition or objects whose mechanical characteristics of their bodies or their envelopes are very variable (eg very brittle or very ductile material),
• to open ammunition or objects whose forms are very varied;
• destroy most of the internal substances, especially chemicals by the effects of the active fireball long.

In addition, the pyrotechnic destruction device according to the invention makes it possible to control the fragmentation of the body of the munition or of the envelope of the object to be destroyed and consequently the effects of the fragments emitted on the external environment.

Claims (14)

1. Pyrotechnic device for the destruction of ammunitions (10, 50) by an explosive (36, 56, 70) at least partially surrounding the ammunition comprising walls (12, 52) for the confinement of active products, characterised in that it comprises means (40, C11, C12, C21, C22) for the controlled ignition of the explosive, these means being configured to produce a coupling of detonation waves of the explosive in the region of the walls of the ammunition along at least two opening lines of said walls of the ammunition.
2. Pyrotechnic device according to claim 1, characterised in that the controlled ignition means comprise at least two pyrotechnic ignition cords (C11, C12) of the explosive (36, 56, 70), each of the cords comprising a start-of-ignition end Ed and an end-of-ignition end Ef, the start-of-ignition ends of the cords being connected by at least one firing means (40).
3. Pyrotechnic device according to one of claims 1 or 2, intended to destroy ammunitions having a shape approximating a cylinder with an axis of revolution XX', or objects provided with a casing of any other shape, characterised in that the controlled ignition means comprise two ignition cords (C11, C12), in contact with or close to the explosive in order to initiate the explosion, on either side of the axis XX' of the ammunition and aligned along an opening line of the walls of the ammunition.
4. Pyrotechnic device according to one of claims 1 or 2, intended to destroy ammunitions having a shape approximating a cylinder with an axis of revolution XX', or objects provided with a casing of any other shape, characterised in that the controlled ignition means comprise two pairs P1, P2 of ignition cords (C11, C21), (C12, C22).
5. Pyrotechnic device according to one of claims 2 to 4, characterised in that the firing means comprise a detonator (40) for igniting the pyrotechnic ignition cords by their start-of-ignition ends Ed in order to cause controlled detonation of the explosive along the opening line of the ammunition.
6. Pyrotechnic device according to one of claims 3 to 5, characterised in that it comprises:

   - a cylindrical container (30, 51) having internal walls (32, 60, 62) delimiting a volume comprising the donor (explosive) charge (36), the explosive (36, 56, 70) being between the internal walls (32) of the container and the ammunition to be destroyed (10, 50);

   - two pairs P1, P2 of ignition cords C11, C21 for the first pair P1 and C12, C22 for the second pair P2 between the internal walls (32, 60, 62) of the cylindrical container (30, 51) and the explosive (36, 56, 70), or in the container.
7. Pyrotechnic device according to claim 6, characterised in that the ignition cords C11, C12, C21, C22 are configured in such a way that the cords C11, C21 of the pair P1 and that the cords C12, C22 of the pair P2 are separated by a predetermined angular distance α.
8. Pyrotechnic device according to claim 7, characterised in that the angular distance α between the cords of the two pairs P1, P2 and the thickness Ep of explosive (36) are predetermined so as to obtain localised overpressures by coupling detonation waves of the explosive (36, 56, 70) in the region of the walls (12) of the ammunition.
9. Pyrotechnic device according to claim 8, characterised in that the simultaneous detonation of the explosive in the region of the four ignition cords C11, C12, C21, C22 in a plane Pam perpendicular to the detonation propagation axis produces convergent Mach wave-type encounters in zones M1, M2, then convergent wave encounters in zones M3 and M4 of the walls 12 of the ammunition, the convergence zone M1 on the wall 12 between the cords C11 and C22, the convergence zone M2 between the cords C12 and C21, the convergence zone M3 between the cords C11 and C21 and the convergence zone M4 between the cords C12 and C22.
10. Pyrotechnic device according to one of claims 8 or 9, characterised in that the angle α between the cords is between 35° and 45°.
11. Pyrotechnic device according to one of claims 1 to 6, characterised in that it comprises a box (51) of rectangular section comprising an explosive (56) surrounding the ammunition (50) to be destroyed and filling the box and in that it comprises two cords C11 and C12 for igniting the explosive (56) on either side of the ammunition (50) in a plane D1 passing through the axis XX' and close to two opposing internal walls (60, 62) of the box.
12. Pyrotechnic device according to claim 11, characterised in that an explosive (70) partially fills the box (51) partially surrounding the ammunition.
13. Pyrotechnic device according to one of claims 2 to 6, characterised in that the cords for igniting the explosive surrounding the ammunition to be opened may follow lines of various non-rectilinear forms.
14. Pyrotechnic device according to claim 13, characterised in that the lines wind around the wall of the ammunition, from one end of the ammunition to the other, so as to obtain an opening of helicoidal shape.

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