JOTP-011
5 December 2014
6.6 TEST OUTLINE.
S3 assessment testing of surface and underwater launched munitions requires a series of sequential
environmental tests, operating/firing tests, and non-sequential (stand alone) environmental tests.
The
test
flowcharts
and
munition
allocation
tables
are
shown
in
Appendix B in this document. These include sequential and combined environmental tests (i.e.,
vibration with temperature) to determine if the interaction (synergistic effect) and/or the sequence
in which environments are experienced may result in a safety hazard.
6.7 TEST SAFETY CONSIDERATIONS.
Explosive materials often become less stable with age. This ageing is exacerbated by the presence
of increased temperature, humidity and vibration/mechanical stressing. It is therefore necessary
to review the projected test sequence and determine whether the sequence, including any
temperature conditioning and storage, result in an unacceptable hazard. As a minimum this will
require an assessment of explosive material stability with respect to extreme temperature exposure
durations. It might be necessary to divide the overall test time (shock and vibration in particular)
into smaller portions to prevent heat build-up within the weapon and subsequent unintended
energetic reaction. It is essential and mandatory to have a log for each weapon indicating the
amount of time that has been spent at extreme temperature for the entire test sequence, including
all periods of temperature conditioning.
6.8 TEST SAMPLE QUANTITIES.
The test sample quantities are largely dictated by the minimum number of destructive tests (i.e.,
static firing, dynamic firings, breakdown test and critical analysis (BTCA), pressure vessel
structural integrity tests, hazard classification, and insensitive munitions) to provide sufficient
evidence of munition safety. Specific rationale for the quantities in each of the destructive test
categories is provided in Appendix A. The following general notes should be considered when
assessing the test sample quantities required for an S3 test program:
a. Materiel having more than one configuration, operating state, or operating platform may
require increased test sample quantities.
b. Existing safety data may also be reviewed for acceptability with the goal of reducing
sample sizes and the number of tests. The degree to which this data can be used depends upon
munition characteristics, reliability and completeness of the existing safety data, and the adequacy
with which it treats hardware configuration, input stress, potential synergistic effects, types and
severity of hazards, and the probability of hazard occurrences. However, tests which may interact
with each other in a synergistic fashion (e.g., vibration/shock or vibration/climate) must not be
removed from the sequence.
c. Additional munitions beyond those recommended in this document may be needed in
the test program for baseline purposes and to replace items that become damaged during testing.
Also, fully inert munitions may be required for pre-cursor testing (thermal and mechanical) to
evaluate and certify test procedures, setups and fixtures. Completely functional inert munitions
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