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Explosive booster

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417: 365: 416: 323: 346: 401: 385: 43: 300:) much more sensitive to shock, heat, and friction than an explosive booster. Therefore, minimising the amount of primary explosive that users must store or carry greatly reduces the likelihood of serious accidents. An additional economic reason for using explosive booster charges is that chemical compounds used in detonators (e.g. 364: 295:
At a purely technical level, a sufficiently large detonator would initiate high explosives without the need for a booster charge. However, there are very good reasons why this method is never used. Firstly, there is a major safety issue, i.e. detonators are (like all
322: 163:. By itself, the initiating detonator would not deliver sufficient energy to set off the low-sensitivity charge. However, it detonates the primary charge (the booster), which then delivers an explosive 345: 400: 446:, the final step would be to connect an M142 firing device to the detcord and hide everything under some form of cover e.g. newspapers or a bed-sheet. 307:
A common form for boosters is to cast the explosive material into a cylindrical shell made of cardboard or plastic; these are accordingly known as
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When encountered in connection with artillery shells or air dropped bombs, a booster charge is sometimes referred to as the "gaine", from
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replaced picric acid because it is more stable, and was once a very popular chemical for booster charges, particularly during
87: 68: 304:) are comparatively expensive to produce and encapsulate when compared to the manufacturing costs of explosive boosters. 94: 254: 53: 101: 231:. However, since then, tetryl has largely been replaced by other compositions, e.g. a small cylinder or pellet of 72: 57: 83: 181: 460: 352: 297: 108: 427: 258: 219:
was used as a booster to detonate TNT, though it was superseded due to the inherent danger of
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pockets to act as booster charges. Each of the five shells has been linked together with red
355: 423: 337: 281: 209: 197: 171: 160: 31: 301: 454: 201: 177:, not all explosives can be detonated simply by inserting a detonator and firing it. 274: 262: 232: 228: 277:. This is because any standard detonator will initiate plastic explosive as is. 216: 42: 443: 289: 250: 17: 333: 243: 189: 164: 156: 152: 439: 371: 193: 167:
that is sufficient to detonate the secondary, main, high-energy charge.
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and adjacent booster charge surrounded by the main explosive charge of
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charge that acts as a bridge between a (relatively weak) conventional
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and a low-sensitivity (but typically high-energy) explosive such as
391: 431: 270: 239: 205: 374:. No booster is required because the main explosive filling is 235: 36: 246:) into which the detonator itself is inserted. 442:simultaneously. To turn this assembly into a 358:showing detonator and adjacent booster charge 8: 30:"Gayne" redirects here. For the ballet, see 71:. Unsourced material may be challenged and 261:as the booster charge, for example, some 135:Learn how and when to remove this message 318: 410:showing booster charge above detonator 394:rocket grenade showing booster charge 192:does not deliver sufficient shock to 7: 69:adding citations to reliable sources 238:(e.g. CH-6 or Composition A-5) or 25: 242:(slightly larger than the actual 415: 399: 383: 363: 344: 321: 41: 1: 255:improvised explosive devices 328:Cross-sectional view of an 477: 372:M14 antipersonnel landmine 351:Cross-sectional view of a 29: 27:Sensitive explosive charge 188:, or even a conventional 422:A group of 105 mm 269:stuffed into the empty 180:An initiator such as a 285: 390:Cut-away view of an 370:Cut-away view of an 65:improve this article 430:stuffed into their 406:Cut-away view of a 196:charges comprising 84:"Explosive booster" 353:BLU-43 Dragontooth 298:primary explosives 273:pocket of a 120mm 428:plastic explosive 259:plastic explosive 175:plastic explosive 149:explosive booster 145: 144: 137: 119: 16:(Redirected from 468: 424:artillery shells 419: 403: 387: 367: 356:cluster munition 348: 325: 140: 133: 129: 126: 120: 118: 77: 45: 37: 21: 476: 475: 471: 470: 469: 467: 466: 465: 451: 450: 447: 420: 411: 404: 395: 388: 379: 368: 359: 349: 340: 326: 317: 257:frequently use 210:high explosives 208:and many other 151:is a sensitive 141: 130: 124: 121: 78: 76: 62: 46: 35: 32:Gayane (ballet) 28: 23: 22: 15: 12: 11: 5: 474: 472: 464: 463: 453: 452: 449: 448: 421: 414: 412: 405: 398: 396: 389: 382: 380: 369: 362: 360: 350: 343: 341: 327: 320: 316: 313: 302:lead styphnate 143: 142: 49: 47: 40: 26: 24: 18:Booster charge 14: 13: 10: 9: 6: 4: 3: 2: 473: 462: 459: 458: 456: 445: 441: 438:to make them 437: 433: 429: 425: 418: 413: 409: 402: 397: 393: 386: 381: 377: 373: 366: 361: 357: 354: 347: 342: 339: 335: 331: 324: 319: 314: 312: 310: 309:cast boosters 305: 303: 299: 293: 291: 287: 283: 278: 276: 272: 268: 264: 260: 256: 252: 247: 245: 241: 237: 234: 230: 226: 222: 218: 213: 211: 207: 203: 202:Composition B 199: 195: 191: 187: 183: 178: 176: 173: 168: 166: 162: 158: 154: 150: 139: 136: 128: 117: 114: 110: 107: 103: 100: 96: 93: 89: 86: –  85: 81: 80:Find sources: 74: 70: 66: 60: 59: 55: 50:This article 48: 44: 39: 38: 33: 19: 332:showing the 308: 306: 294: 286:gaine-relais 279: 275:mortar shell 248: 233:phlegmatized 229:World War II 214: 179: 169: 148: 146: 131: 122: 112: 105: 98: 91: 79: 63:Please help 51: 251:booby traps 223:formation. 217:picric acid 125:August 2011 461:Explosives 444:booby trap 290:detonators 215:At first, 182:shock tube 95:newspapers 334:detonator 244:detonator 190:detonator 184:, cannon 165:shockwave 157:detonator 153:explosive 52:does not 455:Category 440:detonate 194:detonate 436:detcord 408:M2 mine 330:M4 mine 315:Gallery 221:picrate 170:Unlike 109:scholar 73:removed 58:sources 376:tetryl 288:. See 282:French 267:Semtex 249:Note: 225:Tetryl 111:  104:  97:  90:  82:  426:with 392:RPG-2 116:JSTOR 102:books 432:fuze 271:fuze 253:and 240:PETN 206:ANFO 186:fuse 88:news 56:any 54:cite 338:TNT 265:or 236:RDX 198:TNT 161:TNT 147:An 67:by 457:: 311:. 292:. 284:: 263:C4 204:, 200:, 172:C4 138:) 132:( 127:) 123:( 113:· 106:· 99:· 92:· 75:. 61:. 34:. 20:)

Index

Booster charge
Gayane (ballet)

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explosive
detonator
TNT
shockwave
C4
plastic explosive
shock tube
fuse
detonator
detonate
TNT
Composition B
ANFO
high explosives
picric acid

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