Factors that affect the impact sensitiveness of ammonium nitrate - fuel oil (ANFO) explosives containing aluminium

Abstract We report the results of a study to investigate the effect of aluminium on the impact sensitiveness of a range of Ammonium Nitrate-Fuel Oil (ANFO) mixtures. The data obtained indicate that the impact sensitiveness of these mixtures depends on the quantity and type of aluminium, and on the ratio of ammonium nitrate to fuel oil. The magnitude of the dependences is relatively small, however, and all the aluminium-ANFO mixtures examined can be classed as “comparatively insensitive”. We have also shown that the sensitiveness of such mixtures to impact can increase if they contain small quantities of rust or grit as a contaminant.