The improvised explosive device (IED), in all its forms, has become the most significant threat to troops operating in Afghanistan and Iraq. These devices range from rudimentary home made explosives to sophisticated weapon systems containing high-grade explosives. Within this broad definition they may be classified as roadside explosives and blast mines, explosive formed pojectile (EFP) devices...

New techniques for the field detection of inorganic improvised explosive devices (IEDs) are urgently developed. Although ion mobility spectrometry (IMS) has been proved to be the most effective method for screening organic explosives, it still faces a major challenge to detect inorganic explosives owing to their low volatilities. Herein, we proposed a strategy for detecting trace inorganic expl...

Perchlorate is an oxidizer that has been routinely used in solid rocket motors by the Department of Defense and National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Royal Demolition Explosive (RDX) is a major component of military high explosives and is used in a wide variety of munitions. Perchlorate bearing wastewater typically results from production of solid rocket motors, while RDX is transferre...

The aim of this research is to study the influence of explosive characteristics on the weld interfaces of stainless steel AISI 304L to low alloy steel 51CrV4 in a cylindrical configuration. The effect of ammonium nitrate-based emulsion, sensitized with different quantities and types of sensitizing agents (hollow glass microballoons or expanded polystyrene spheres) and Ammonium Nitrate Fuel Oil ...

Research efforts for realizing safer and higher performance energetic materials are continuing unabated all over the globe. While the thermites - pyrotechnic compositions of an oxide and a metal - have been finely tailored thanks to progress in other sectors, organic high explosives are still stagnating. The most symptomatic example is the longstanding challenge of the nanocrystallization of 1,...

The task of identifying explosives, hazardous chemicals, and biological materials from a safe distance is the subject we consider. Much of the prior work on stand-off spectroscopy using light has been devoted to generating a backward-propagating beam of light that can be used drive further spectroscopic processes. The discovery of random lasing and, more recently, random Raman lasing provide a ...

A variety of molecular dynamics simulations of energetic materials is presented, demonstrating the ability to predict structural and thermodynamic properties of these materials. The studies are also used to explore, at an atomic level, dynamic processes that might influence conversion of the material to products. These studies are are presented to illustrate how information generated through mo...

A very compact explosive vapor sensor is demonstrated based on a distributed feedback polymer laser pumped by a commercial InGaN light-emitting diode. The laser shows a two-stage turn on of the laser emission, for pulsed drive currents above 15.7 A. The 'double-threshold' phenomenon is attributed to the slow rise of the ∼30 ns duration LED pump pulses. The laser emits a 533 nm pulsed output bea...

This paper describes a method for combining direct chemical analysis of latent fingerprints with subsequent biometric analysis within a single sample. The method described here uses ion mobility spectrometry (IMS) as a chemical detection method for explosives and narcotics trace contamination. A collection swab coated with a high-temperature adhesive has been developed to lift latent fingerprin...