Information AboutCordite |
| CATEGORIES ABOUT CORDITE | |
| british inventions | |
| cordite | |
| ammunitionbritish inventions | |
| cordite | |
| ammunition | |
| explosives | |
| government munitions production in the united kingdom | |
| firearm propellants | |
| propellants | |
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EARLY HISTORY OF SMOKELESS POWDERS In 1886 , a French chemist called Paul Vieille invented the first Smokeless Powder , called Poudre B (''Poudre Blanche'' = white powder). It was made out of two forms of nitrocellulose ( Collodion and Guncotton ) softened with Ethanol and Ether and kneaded together. Three times more powerful than Black Powder and relatively free from vast quantities of smoke, Poudre B was a great improvement on black powder (or ''Poudre Noire'' = black powder). The reason that Poudre B was smokeless is that the Combustion products were mainly gaseous, compared to around 60% solid products for black powder (e.g. Potassium Carbonate , Potassium Sulfate , etc). It was immediately adopted by the French military but it tended to become unstable over time and this led to many accidents; for example two Battleship s, the ''Jena'' and the ''Liberté'', blew up in Toulon harbour in 1907 and 1911 respectively. ALFRED NOBEL AND BALLISTITE In 1887 , Alfred Nobel invented a similar propellant explosive called Ballistite , which was composed of 10% Camphor , 45% nitroglycerin and 45% collodion. His patent specified that the nitrocellulose should be "of the well-known soluble kind". Over time, the camphor tended to evaporate, leaving an unstable explosive. ABEL AND CORDITE A United Kingdom government committee, known as the "Explosives Committee", chaired by Sir Frederick Abel , monitored foreign developments in explosives. Abel and Sir James Dewar , who was also on the committee, jointly patented a new mixture, consisting of 58% Nitroglycerin by weight, 37% Guncotton and 5% Vaseline in 1889 . Using Acetone as a Solvent , it was extruded as Spaghetti -like rods initially called "cord powder" or "the Committee's modification of ballistite", but this was swiftly abbreviated to "cordite". It was quickly discovered that the rate of burning could be varied by altering the surface area of the cordite. Narrow rods were used in small-arms and gave relatively fast burning, whilst thicker rods would burn more slowly and were used for longer barrels such as those used in Artillery . NOBEL AND ABEL PATENT DISPUTE Nobel sued Abel and Dewar over patent infringement, eventually getting to the House Of Lords in 1895 , but lost because the words "of the well-known soluble kind" in his patent were taken to mean the soluble collodion and hence specifically excluded the insoluble guncotton. CORDITE MD Cordite, ballistite and Poudre B continued to be used in different armed forces for many years, but cordite gradually became predominant. One problem was that early versions of cordite quickly corroded gun barrels. To combat this, the British changed the composition to 65% guncotton and 30% nitroglycerine (keeping 5% vaseline) in their version shortly after the end of the Second Boer War . This was known as Cordite MD (= '''M'''o'''D'''ified). Cordite MD is now Obsolete . CORDITE RDB AND CORDITE SC During the World War I , acetone was in short supply in Great Britain and so a new form was developed. This was Cordite RDB (= '''R'''esearch '''D'''epartment formula '''B'''); which was 52% collodion, 42% nitroglycerin and 6% vaseline ( Petroleum Jelly ). It tended to become unstable if stored too long. Once acetone production increased by Fermentation , (see Chaim Weizmann ), the older form of Cordite replaced it. Research on solvent-free Cordite RDB continued primarily on the addition of stabilizers, which led to the type commonly used in World War II , onwards. In Great Britain this was known as Cordite SC (= '''S'''olventless '''C'''ordite). Cordite SC was produced in different shapes and sizes, so the particular Geometry of Cordite SC was indicated by the use of letters and/or numbers after the SC. For example SC followed by a number was rod-shaped cord, with the number representing the diameter, in one-thousandths of an Inch . SC T followed by two sets of numbers was Tubular propellant, with the numbers representing the two diameters, in one-thousandths of an inch. Two inch and three inch diameter rocket Cordite SC charges were developed, in great secrecy, in the later stages of WW II for anti-aircraft purposes. Great Britain changed to Metric units in the 1960s , so there was a discontinuity in the propellant geometry numbering system. TRIPLE-BASE PROPELLANT AND CORDITE N An important development during the Second World War was the addition of another explosive, Nitroguanidine , to the mixture to form ''triple-base'' cordites, or Cordite N. This solved two problems with the large naval guns of the day as fitted to Capital Ship s. Nitroguanidine produces large amounts of Nitrogen when heated, which had the benefit of reducing the muzzle flash, and its lower burning temperature greatly reduced the erosion of the gun barrel. |
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