Relative effectiveness factor

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Relative effectiveness factor (R.E. factor) is a measurement of an explosive's power for military demolitions purposes. It is used to compare an explosives effectiveness relative to TNT by weight only. This is so engineers can substitute one explosive for another when they are figuring out blasting equations that are designed for TNT. For example, If a timber cutting charge requires 1lb of TNT to work, it would only take 0.6LB of PETN or 2.4LBS of Ammonium Nitrate to have the same effect.

Some examples of RE factors include:

Ammonium nitrate = 0.42

Black powder = 0.55

TNT = 1.00

C-4 = 1.34

Nitroglycerine = 1.50

RDX = 1.60

PETN = 1.66

Semtex = 1.66 ^{[citation needed]}

HMX = 1.70

Octanitrocubane = 2.7

[edit] External links

• Student Handout (.doc) From the U.S. Marine Corps, includes a table on RE factors (on page 2).

• Chapter 13: Demolitions (.doc) from Appalachian State University, includes a table on RE factors (on page 5).