View source for Tritonal

{{Short description|High explosive mixture}}
{{About||the musical group|Tritonal (group)|the musical interval|Tritone}}
{{More citations needed|date=January 2023}}
[[File:RAF Bomber Command HU95286.jpg|thumb|right|A {{convert|4,000|lb|t|abbr=on}} [[blockbuster bomb]] being loaded onto a [[De Havilland Mosquito]] of the [[Royal Air Force|RAF]], circa 1944. The explosive filling of tritonal 80/20 is stencilled on the side, inside the chalked "O" of "[[Adolf Hitler|Adolf]]"]]
[[File:M117_bomb.jpg|thumb|right|A {{convert|750|lb|kg|abbr=on}} [[M117 bomb]]. The explosive filling of tritonal is stencilled on the nose]]
'''Tritonal''' is a mixture of 80% [[Trinitrotoluene|TNT]] and 20% [[aluminium]] [[powder (substance)|powder]], used in several types of [[Aircraft ordnance|ordnance]] such as [[air-dropped bomb]]s. The aluminium increases the total heat output and hence [[Impulse (physics)|impulse]] of the TNT&nbsp;– the length of time during which the blast wave is positive. Tritonal is approximately 18% more powerful than TNT alone.<ref name="llnl.gov">{{cite web |last=Maienschein |first=J. L. |date=July 8, 2002 |title=Estimating Equivalency of Explosives Through A Thermochemical Approach |url=https://e-reports-ext.llnl.gov/pdf/241114.pdf}}</ref>

The 87&nbsp;[[kilogram|kg]] of tritonal in a [[Mark 82 bomb]] has the potential to produce approximately 863&nbsp;[[joule#Megajoule|MJ]] of energy when detonated.<ref name="llnl.gov"/> This implies a [[specific energy]] of approximately 9&nbsp;MJ/kg, compared to ~4&nbsp;MJ/kg for TNT.

== History ==
TNT was first prepared by [[Julius Wilbrand]] in 1863. Germany began manufacturing TNT in 1891 and aluminium was first mixed with TNT in 1899 to produce an explosive compound. In 1902, the [[German Army]] began to use TNT, replacing [[picric acid]], and in 1912, the [[United States Army|US Army]] also started to use TNT. TNT production was limited by the availability of toluene which came from coal tar. Therefore, mixtures of TNT with other compounds became widespread to relieve the shortage of TNT.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Akhavan |first=Jacqueline |title=The Chemistry of Explosives |chapter=Introduction to Explosives |date=2022-03-07 |chapter-url=https://books.rsc.org/books/monograph/944/chapter/751937/Introduction-to-Explosives  |pages=1–27 |language=en |doi=10.1039/BK9781839164460-00001 |isbn=978-1-83916-446-0 |via=Royal Society of Chemistry}}</ref>

Modern tritonal was developed as a cheaper substitute for [[Torpex]] and [[HBX]] under UWE designation (UnderWater Explosive) before it turned out Allies could produce enough [[RDX]] to cover all naval requirements late in WWII.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Ordnance |first1=United States Navy Department Bureau of |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EqNZ5hjPOVMC&pg=PA207 |title=U.S. Navy Bureau of Ordnance in World War II |last2=Rowland |first2=Buford |date=1953 |publisher=Bureau of Ordnance, Department of the Navy |language=en}}</ref>

==See also==
*[[Torpex]]
*[[Composition H6]]
*[[Minol (explosive)|Minol]]
*[[TNT equivalent#Relative effectiveness factor|Relative effectiveness factor]] (RE)

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Explosives]]
[[Category:Trinitrotoluene]]