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REVIEW ON UNDERWATER EXPLOSION

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 46th International Annual Conference of ICT
REVIEW ON UNDERWATER EXPLOSION.
AHMED HAWASS*, HOSAM MOSTAFA*, AHMED ELBEIH *.WAEL El-DAKHAKHNI**.
ABSTRACT
This paper describes the underwater explosion phenomena.Shock wave and bubble pulse
propagation produced by the underwater explosion has been deeply demonstrated. The interaction
between the underwater explosion parameters and the naval vessels has been studied. The
damage occurred to many components of the ship especially hull were discussed with focusing on
both shock and reflected wave resulting from underwater explosion.
Different kind of explosive materials that has been used in naval warfare has been studied.
Energetic materials that improve the energy released from the explosion phenomena and lead to
increase the effect of the explosion parameters were included. From the study it has been
candidate to use aluminum as additives for enhancing the underwater explosion parameter. A
short review about the underwater threat was included in this study. This study introduces
information about the underwater damage produced by the explosives and helps the naval ship
designer to improve the protection against this threat.
KEY WORDS
Underwater explosion; Shock wave; bubble pulse
___________________________________________________________________________________
* Egyptian Armed Force
** McMaster University

1. Introduction to underwater explosion phenomena

Great research has been accomplished in the field of underwater explosions (UNDEX)
since World War II. Naval ships and submarines were subjected to damage caused by mines,
depth charges and torpedoes throughout the war. Direct contact with such ordnance was not
required for major damage to occur. The requirement is to be able to predict and reduce damage
to a ship’s hull from an UNDEX event was evident [1].
Le Méhauté, et all divided the underwater explosion according to their depth beneath the
water's surface. An empirical criterion for shallow/deep underwater explosion :
𝑑
1 < 1 𝑠ℎ𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑜𝑤
𝑤3
𝑑
1 < 16 𝑑𝑒𝑒𝑝
𝑤3
 Where d is the explosive position with respect to the free surface in feet, positive
downward and W is mass of the explosive in pounds of TNT.
If an explosive is detonated in water, several typical phenomena can be observed. Typical
phenomena are the shock wave, gas bubble, cavitations etc. Figure 1 shows the underwater
explosion phenomena [2].

Figure 1. Shows the underwater explosion phenomena.

2. Shock wave propagation
Park, J. Wan indicate that the explosive charge converted into hot gas of approximately
3000 °C and produce a shock pressure of up to 730000 psi [3]. Misovec and Cole describe
the explosive process before the start of the explosive process which the explosive material is an
unstable chemical substance in a gas, solid, or liquid state to the phase of high pressure
gases[4,5].
According to Cole the chemical reaction takes place in two parts: the initial chemical
reaction and the detonation process. The initial chemical reaction produce mechanical shock
wave, referred to as the “detonation wave” [6]. When the detonation wave reaches the explosive
material/water boundary the all unreacted material has been converted to gas bubble. The
underwater detonation process have been demonstrated in reference [7]. Cole, define the shock
wave as the pressure wave created by the arrival of the detonation wave at the boundary between
gas bubble and the water. Its shape according to Cole characterized by a nearly discontinuous rise
in pressure followed by a brief period of exponential decay [5]. The shock wave propagates in
water as a spherical wave, initially traveling faster than the speed of sound then its propagation
speed falls to the speed of sound in water [8].
3. Gas bubble behavior and bubble pulse loading.
Misovec and cole discuss in detail how the gas bubble begins to expand by the hot gases
developed by explosion. The expansion remain until the pressure differential between the
hydrostatic pressure and the internal gas bubble pressure becomes large enough to cause the
outward flow of water to stop [4, 5]. Shin, shows the reasons for the bubble at its minimum
diameter to rise at its maximum rate than at the maximum diameter. He find that when the bubble
at its large diameter, the inertial forces brought on by the surrounding water dominate, cancelling
out the buoyancy effect to a large extent. When the bubble is at its minimum, the inertial forces
are also at a minimum value and thus the buoyancy of the bubble causes it to rise at its maximum
rate [9]. The velocity of the bubble pulses is also similar to the shock wave, it propagate at the
speed of sound in water [10].
4. Far Field and Near field Underwater Explosion
Mair, et al give a definition of a near vs. far-field explosion based on hydrodynamic
phenomena [8]. As the distance of the charge is increased the hull no longer ruptures, but
significant plastic hull deformation still occurs. At further increasing the charge distance, reaches
a point where only elastic deformation occurs [8, 11].
5. Hull response and damage subjected to underwater explosion
5.1 Incident shock wave damage
Reid display the shock damage applied to the hull area of a ship. The damage according to
Reid depending on the charge size, orientation and proximity to the hull. Also, he added to the
shock damage the whipping damage caused by the bubble pulses [12].The shock wave produce a
large hole in case of the hull thickness is not too great and the charge is of a sufficient size [12].
The hull is heavily deformed with the level of deformation decreasing as the stand-off distances
increases. .
5.2 Bubble jet damage
Another damage mechanism according to Reid which follows on closely to that of bubble-
pulse loading is the bubble collapse. If the oscillating gas bubble is close enough to a rigid body
surface such as a submarine or ship hull then the pressure differential created a high speed water
jet, which in some instances is capable of penetration the hull [12].
5.3 Surface cut-off phenomena.
Surface cut-off occurs when a plane compressive wave hits a free surface, then it reflected
off that surface as a tensile wave, and then interacts with (cancels out) the compressive wave so
it produce a slightly negative pressure figure (2). For ships and submarines near the surface
it means that pressure applied on the hull may suddenly drop to the ambient pressure
which force the hull is moving down towards the water surface [12].

Figure 2 Shock wave pressure profiles with cut-off time [3].

5.4 Cavitations damage.
Cavitations is a phenomenon which occurs when there is a region of negative absolute
pressure present in the water and classified into two types of cavitations “bulk cavitations”
and “local cavitations”. Bulk cavitations can be considered a large region of low pressure at the
free surface while local cavitations is a small region of low pressure usually occurring at the
fluid-structure interface [13].
The phenomenon of bulk cavitations are described in detail in both reference [14,15].
Shin, Y.S represents the factors which affect the water particles velocities behind the shock
wave front. The factors are the position to the charge location and the free surface of the
cavitations [16].
The shock pressure pulses which are created by an underwater explosion impinging on a
ship agitate the structure which causes a dynamic response. The Taylor flat plate theory will be
used to illustrate how the local cavitations occurs [17].
6. Definition of Survivability
The standard OPNAV instruction definition for survivability is “the ability of the total ship
system to protect and withstand damage and maintain the mission integrity [18]. There are three
key elements in the OPNAV definition of survivability as shown by the following equation:
 𝑆 = 1 − 𝑃ℎ 𝑃𝑘 (1 − 𝑃𝑟 𝑘 )
ℎ

where S is the probability of survival of a naval ship, Ph is the probability of being hit by a
weapon , Pk/h is the probability of a kill or loss of mission capability for the attack threat
(vulnerability), and Pr/k is the probability of recovery (recoverability). Survivability Time-line
that illustrates the survivability processes and how the mission capability of the ship is affected
over the time are shown with figure in reference [19].Tan on his study manage the effects on
nearby structure and the damage caused by the explosives into high pressure, whipping effect, jet
impact, and rebound cycle this classification should be considered when we try to calculate the
survivability across the time [20].
7. Underwater threats.
7.1 Mines
There are many different types of threats that a naval ship can encounter. The number of
possibilities of different types of weapons systems and different types of damage each weapon
can inflict on a ship are represent in reference [21]. Mines are effective in naval warfare because
they are not seen until the mines are almost upon a ship’s hull. [22]. Undersea weapons such as
mines are a relatively inexpensive way for naval warfare. During the Civil War the Confederate
Navy, which lacked adequate funding, used sea mines on a large scale due to their cheapness
[23].
Frame torpedoes were one of the most successful torpedoes (mines) used during the
American Civil War by the Confederate Navy. Frame torpedoes are large artillery shells, each
with a fuse in its nose, attached to wooden frames and anchored in shallow waterway where an
unsuspecting ship might strike and detonate it [24].
The Mk 6 mine played an important role during World War I by protecting allied shipping.
Destructor mines were the first mines used on both land and sea. Captor Mines, also known as
Mk 60 mines, combine the elements of a mine and a torpedo in a single weapon
Mines can be configured in a variety of ways, but there are essentially four types: bottom
mines, buoyant moored mines, drifting mines, and limpet mines. They are normally placed by
aircraft, surface ships, or submarines but can also be placed by pleasure craft, divers, merchant
ships or even a person on the pier. They are designed to operate in regions as shallow as the surf
zone or as deep as over 200 feet [25, 26].
7.2 Torpedo
Torpedoes are self-propelled guided projectiles that operate underwater and are designed
to detonate on contact or in proximity to a target. They may be launched from submarines,
surface ships, helicopters, and fixed-wing aircrafts. The modern torpedoes enable submarines to
defeat surface and undersea threats, and they provide the surface ships the means to reach beneath
the surface and attack submarines. With these extensive abilities, the current generation torpedoes
are one of the fundamental drivers of 20th century naval warfare [27].
8. Underwater explosives
In the area of underwater explosives, many attempts have been made to develop more
powerful and/or less vulnerable explosive compositions. Plastic bonded explosives (PBXs) are
known to be less sensitive, possess better shelf life, and are less vulnerable to sympathetic
detonation or external fragment impact compared with trinitrotoluene (TNT) based compositions.
PBXs provide increased thermal stability and improved cook-off properties with negligible
shrinkage [28]. TNT based fillings, on the other hand, exhibit shrinkage and develops cracks
upon solidification due to thermal stresses, while entrained air and dissolved gases result in voids
and porosity [29]. Vulnerability of TNT-based warheads has been of great concern in the case of
naval weapons stored on board ships. Insensitiveness of the PBX formulations will grant certain
minimum safety assurance to the sailors on board ship and also reduce the quantity-distance
requirements, allowing stacking of more number of weapons [30]. G. Antic, et all show that
aluminized PBXs are used in warheads requiring strong blast effects such as main charge
explosives for naval underwater weapons [31]. E. Stromose et all demonstrate in their study the
reaction of aluminum (Al) which is relatively slow, so that aluminum at the Chapman-Joguet (C-
J) plane acts as diluents or even as an endothermic component. The large amount of energy
liberated by subsequent reactions of aluminum with primary detonation products, however,
maintains a high pressure for longer period than what would be obtained without aluminum [32].
These results confirm the higher impulse of the compositions [33,34].
8.1 Reactive Metals in Explosives
According to Ng Hsiao Yen metals with high combustion enthalpies are of interest as high
energy density materials. One such common metal additive is aluminum. However, it is also
widely recognized that the benefits expected from aluminum additives are not fully exploited.
This is mainly due to the high melting point oxide layer that caused long ignition delays and slow
combustion rate. As such, researchers have attempted to overcome this barrier by improving
material processing and searching for new materials [35].Reactive metals find application in air-
blast and underwater explosives. Due to the high heat released and also contribute to the bubble
energy liberated [36].
8.2 Elemental Metals
Makhovin found that there are many other elemental metal powders besides aluminum are
taken into consideration for the synthesis of explosives figure (3). Boron has the highest
gravimetric and volumetric heat of combustion compared to aluminum and many other metal
fuels. When boron was incorporated in HMX-based explosive compositions, boron containing
compositions (B/HMX) produce a higher explosion heats (per unit mass) compared to
aluminum-containing ones (Al/HMX) in a bomb calorimetric test [37]. Lee et al studied the use
of mixtures of boron and aluminum in an explosive formulation (RDX/Al/B/HTPB, 45/ 10/20/25)
[38]. The author found that the formulation containing mixtures of boron and aluminum
performed 1.3 times better compared to the formulation containing pure aluminum
(RDX/Al//HTPB, 45/38/17). Therefore, it appears that boron is a potential candidate for use as
fuel additive in energetic compositions, there is also experimental effort that indicated that the
high ignition temperature of boron is a drawback to its application [39]. Schaefer, and Nicolich
study the effect of the boron flame temperature which is 2067 oC, while its boiling point is 3865
o
C. Boron therefore burns at the particle surface, which becomes coated with the viscous oxide
(B2O3). This reduces the ability of the fuel to mix with oxidizer and leads to inefficient burning.
Schaefer and Nicolich studied the blast performance of boron-containing cast-cured, HMX-based
explosive in a semi-confined structure. Results showed that the use of boron decreased the
impulse by half when it partially replaced a Mg/Al alloy powder [40].

Figure 3 Heat of combustion for some metal.

 Toxic and high price metal constrains the application of this metal. Zirconium flakes and
magnesium slurry have also been tested in a thermobaric source by the Defense Threat Reduction
Agency (DTRA) [41].
Metals do not perform as well as aluminum when all aspects of the metals were
considered. For very low ignition temperature. (Mg, Al, Ti, Zr) there have been tested as
incendiary warheads for a penetrator by Sandia National Laboratories [42, 43].
The use of zirconium sponge compacted with a binder for incendiary devices were
reported in US Patent 3,927,993 [44]. The compacted sponge (self-ignition temperature: 260 oC)
was found to be more stable and safer to handle than compacted powder (self ignition
temperature: 132oC). It was found that the maximum size of zirconium sponge that would burn so
as to oxidize completely was approximately 5 mm. Similarly, US Patent 4,131,498 [45] discloses
the use of zirconium or hafnium metallic sponge particles compacted with a binder (fluorocarbon
polymeric).
9- Development on the compositions used for underwater explosives.
There are different explosives compositions used for different application in underwater
weapon based on different kind of explosives as RDX, HMX, PETN, TNT with different
metallic additives as Al and Mg with different particle size, and different binder as polyurethane,
viton A and gap.Kumar et all studied the addition of aluminum in PBX formulations based on
RDX and HTPB and he found that the PBX based on HTPB with about 25% of aluminum
content (aluminized PBX-25) is optimum for underwater applications and is considered to be the
most promising explosive formulation to replace HBX-3 (RDX-TNT-Al-wax) for underwater
applications [46].
Also Brousseau et all studies the addition of nanometric aluminum on PBXs formulation
which maintain the velocity of detonation for aluminised plastic-bonded explosives based on an
inert binder. In TNT/Al mixtures, nanometric aluminum increases the detonation velocity and
the heat of detonation.. The enhancement in the brisance on plate dent tests in TNT/Al mixtures
make nanometric aluminum (vs micrometric aluminum) is more better than micrometric
aluminum in underwater ammunition [47]. Swinton et all were found that a significant decrease
in critical diameter of the H-6 and comp B compositions with the decrease of RDX particle size
[48].A new novel technique to enhance the energy of the metalized explosion was mad by flower
et all. They found that a number of other elements exist in the periodic table that potentially offer
higher heats of combustion when compared to aluminium, eg, carbon, boron, beryllium, etc. As
the problem of the toxicity, reactivity, and high ignition temperature so a fundamental program
using a unique plasma evaporation-condensation process was mad to obtain Al-B alloy [49].
Manner et all have studied the detonation and post-detonation environment for a series of
cast-cured formulations using HMX and aluminum or LiF as an inert substitute. Plate tests were
performed to observe blast effects and aluminum reactions at longer timescales (100–200 ms),
and measure plate velocities which are 31% higher for HMX-Al than for HMX-LiF. Free field
pressure measurements show 38% higher pressures for HMX-Al than for HMX-LiF at 1.52 m
[50].
Yarom et all comparing the underwater shock wave performance of six explosive
compositions including cure-cast explosives and traditional explosives (PBXN-111- AFX-931-
PBXN-109- TNT- Tritonal-LX-07. The result shows an increase of 50% in the total impulse of
PBXN-111 relative to TNT. The Tritonal was found second best with an increase of 43.4% in the
total impulse. The PBXN-111 had only 5.3% increase in its peak pressure relative to TNT, while
the best explosive in this category was the LX-07 which has 13% increase in the value of the
peak pressure [51]. G.Bockstiener has explained many of underwater explosion parameter on his
experimental study including shock wave characteristics as (energy, impulse, pressure, decay
time) and the bubble pulse parameters as (energy, maximum diameter, rise time to the surface)
[52].
10-Conclusion
Review on underwater explosion damage according to its phenomena provides a wide
range for protection and even destruction according to the target desired. Different researcher
has been demonstrated the phenomena of underwater explosion even it should be studied
deeply and different protection chemical and mechanical barriers also should be demonstrated in
the future study. Where as many reactive metals have been studied in terms of combustion and
ignition kinetics, field performances of reactive metals in explosives are scarce. However, based
on this review, we are able to suggest some reactive metals that could potentially perform better
than ordinary metal used. The most promising mechanical alloys that can be used for enhancing
the performance of underwater explosives is the encapsulating aluminum with reactive metals
such as boron or with polymers such as Viton, Teflon, which lower the ignition temperature and
bridge the gap between microsecond detonation reactions and millisecond burning reactions.
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