E analysis

Verification of military, civilian, home-made and new explosives

FOI has vast experience of analyses of explosives in many different contexts and situations. FOI Grindsjön has special equipment, explosives classified laboratory and artillery range for safe taking care of and advanced analyses of all types of explosives.

FOI’s special equipment includes powerful, advanced x-ray and developing equipment for the examination of unknown objects with large housing thicknesses (steel), where a high detail resolution is required.
FOI has developed selective and sensitive sampling and analysis methods for the detection and mapping of the spread of explosives on the ground and in the air. FOI has also developed methods for structure determination and verification of explosives as support for Swedish explosives industry and for analyses of unknown samples. All in all it is possible for FOI to analyse all military (from TNT to CL-20) and civilian (from AN to TATP) explosives. Our research with regard to explosives is carried out in the form of national and international co-operation with the purpose of both Swedish military personnel and civilian society.

Continuous development
Depending on the type of explosive that is to be analysed a suitable analysis technique and method is selected – normally LC and GC-MS. These methods are developed continuously in order to meet the requirements for analysis of new explosives. The handling sensitivity can be determined using existing test equipment that analyses notch, impact and spark sensitivity as per established standards.

We also use supplementary analysis methods and tools to establish the type of explosive in an unknown sample further and define its properties. Examples of such equipment are DSC, TGA, NMR (400 MHz), pycnometer, bomb calorimeter, UV-VIS, FT-IR to meet the requirements for analysis of new explosives. The handling sensitivity can be determined using existing test equipment that analyses notch, impact and spark sensitivity as per established standards.

Found ammunition objects
In 2005 a number of ammunition objects with unknown content were found in the the river Kolbäcksån in Hallstahammar in the central part of Sweden. The police sent for peacetime ordnance clearers from the Armed Forces, which in their turn requested expert support from FOI. Using FOI explosives analyses from the found objects one could establish that the contents of the shells were harmless and that the cordon could