Explosive power
Explosive force is a term for the destructive effect of an explosive. It is often given as the TNT equivalent . Correction factors take into account the different levels of sensitivity . For example, the energy density of wood is four times that of TNT , but the reaction speed is extremely slow.
The higher the pressure differences in the air that cause a detonation, the higher the damage to be expected:
- 3 mbar: sound pressure level higher than pain threshold of 140 dB
- 10 mbar: damage to window panes
- 35–70 mbar: Window panes crack
- 50 mbar: Upper limit for reversible damage to living beings
- 70 mbar: damage to houses
- 140 mbar: roof collapse
- 170 mbar: torn eardrum in 1% of exposed people
- 200 mbar: Severe damage to steel structures (high-rise buildings)
- 490 mbar: knocking over a car
- 700 mbar: collapse of houses, ruptured lungs
- 1400 mbar: Complete destruction
- 2000 mbar: Death from direct pressure in 99% of those affected
The estimation of the range s of an explosion with the explosive force M , at which a pressure difference P is still measured, is carried out according to:
with: s = range in m; P = pressure difference in bar; M = TNT mass equivalents in kg
10 tons of TNT generate a pressure difference of more than 350 mbar in a radius of approx. 100 m. 1 kg of TNT devastates a radius of approx. 5 m with a pressure difference of more than 280 mbar. The Little Boy atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima in 1945 had an explosive force of 13,000 tons of TNT. The largest man-made explosion caused by the Tsar bomb had an explosive force of 57 million tons of TNT.
