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From: ahahma@utu.fi (Arno Hahma)
Newsgroups: sci.military
Subject: Re: Fuel-Air Explosives
Message-ID: <1991Jan24.040337.22736@cbnews.att.com>
Date: 24 Jan 91 04:03:37 GMT
References: <1991Jan18.003251.8296@cbnews.att.com> <1991Jan19.043207.6295@cbnews.att.com> <1991Jan23.035540.4193@cbnews.att.com>
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From: ahahma@utu.fi (Arno Hahma)
In article <1991Jan23.035540.4193@cbnews.att.com> jgd@Dixie.Com (John G. DeArmond) writes:

>the pavement and generally reek havoc.  3 to 5 psi will blow down telephone
>poles and steel towers.  The book has some rather graphic pictures of
>tests performed in the desert during atmospheric testing.  I would think 
>that somewhere in the range of 5 to 7 PSI would probably at least tip
>a tank and maybe roll it over.

A typical FAE bomb with no aluminum will produce an overpressure of about
20 to 30 bars, that is, about 140 to 210 PSI inside the fuel-air cloud.
This is more than enough to damage even concrete bunkers.

The pressure impulse/unit mass (for an ethylene or propylene oxide FAE) is 
about 5 to 7 times that of PETN, i.e. you'll need roughly 5 to 7 times more 
PETN to achieve the same, average pressure effect. The peak pressure produced
will be many times higher with PETN, but it also lasts only for a very short
time. If you manage to use hydrocarbons to make a FAE, then the ratio will be 
even more than 1 to 5..7.

ArNO
    2