The aquarium test is a proven means of obtaining nonidial performance property data for commercial blasting agents. Optical data on the detonation velocity, shock wave in water, and expansion rate of the pipe enclosing the detonation products (in combination with the equilibrium thermodynamic chemistry code BKW) give the C‐J state and degree of chemical reaction at the detonation front, as well as information on additional chemical reaction that occurs as the detonation products expand. Specific explosive systems that are studied are ammonium nitrate‐fuel oil mixture (ANFO), aluminized ANFO, flaked trinitrotoluene (TNT), and several other commercial products in 10‐cm‐diam and 20‐cm‐diam pipes of Plexiglas and clay. Experimental shock pressure data are obtained with lithium niobate transducers placed in the water surrounding the explosive charge. These data show that the addition of ∼ 100‐μm aluminum particles to ANFO significantly increases the initial peak shock pressure delivered to the surrounding medium. Peak shock pressures in the water, calculated from the shock‐wave orientation, are also useful in comparing performance properties of various commercial explosives.
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Johnson et al. (1983) studied this question.