Tritonal is a mixture of 80% TNT and 20%

aluminium Aluminium (aluminum in American and Canadian English) is a chemical element with the symbol Al and atomic number 13. Aluminium has a density lower than those of other common metals, at approximately one third that of steel. It ha ...

powder A powder is a dry, bulk solid composed of many very fine particles that may flow freely when shaken or tilted. Powders are a special sub-class of granular materials, although the terms ''powder'' and '' granular'' are sometimes used to distin ...

, used in several types of ordnance such as air-dropped

bomb A bomb is an explosive weapon that uses the exothermic reaction of an explosive material to provide an extremely sudden and violent release of energy. Detonations inflict damage principally through ground- and atmosphere-transmitted mechan ...

s. The aluminium improves the total heat output and hence impulse of the TNT — the length of time during which the blast wave is positive. Tritonal is approximately 18% more powerful than TNT alone. The 87 kg of tritonal in a Mark 82 bomb has the potential to produce approximately 863 MJ of energy when detonated. This implies an energy density of approximately 9MJ/kg, compared to ~4MJ/kg for TNT.

References

{{reflist

References

See also