R. Meyer J. Köhler A. Homburg Explosives

363 Volume of Explosion Gases
Vibrometer ZEB/SM 3 and. ZEBI/SM 6 DIN 45669
Indication of the maximum values in alphanumeric display. Registration
of the complete recording with the aid of an UV (ultraviolet)
recorder.
Vibrometer ZEB/SM 3 DS and ZEBI/SM 6 DS DIN 45669
Indication of the maximum values and frequencies on the screen.
Registration of the complete recording with the aid of a four-color
plotter, also in graphics form.
Vibrometer ZEBI/SM 6 C DIN 45669
Latest processor technology with hard and floppy disk storage possibilities.
Display on a screen and registration of the complete recording
on a four-color plotter, both also in graphics form.
Vieille Test
This method for the stability testing of propellants was proposed by
Vieille in 1896. The sample is heated at 110 °C (230 °F) in the
presence of a strip of litmus paper, and is then exposed to air at room
temperature overnight, after which the cycle is repeated. This treatment
is continued until the litmus paper turns red within one hour. The
overall duration of the heating operations thus performed is a measure
of the stability.
The advantage of the method is that when the propellant is periodically
exposed to the atmosphere, it can reabsorb moisture, which means
that the decomposition takes place under realistic conditions. The test
is now much less frequently applied ever since a powder manufactured
with pentanol as a solvent, which had been tested by this
method, had decomposed on board of two warships, which were sunk
by the resulting explosion (1911). The Vieille test is now used only in
France and in Belgium.
Volume of Explosion Gases
fume volume; Normalgasvolumen; volume des produits d’explosion
The volume of the gases (fumes) formed by the explosive reaction, in
liters per kg of explosive material, as calculated from the chemical
composition of the explosive. The calculation of the number of gas
moles of the decomposition products takes the equilibria (e.g. water
gas equilibrium and Boudourd equilibrium) at the explosion temperature
and during cooling to 1500 K into account. Below 1500 K the
equilibria are considered as “frozen”.
Conventionally, the volume of explosion gases refers to 0 °C and 1.013
bar. Water is considered to be gaseous.