Tritonal

For the musical group, see Tritonal (group). For the musical interval, see Tritone.
A 4,000 lb (1.8 t) blockbuster bomb being loaded onto a De Havilland Mosquito of the RAF, circa 1944. The explosive filling of tritonal 80/20 is stencilled on the side, inside the chalked "O" of "Adolf"
A 750 lb (340 kg) M117 bomb. The explosive filling of tritonal is stencilled on the nose

Tritonal is a mixture of 80% TNT and 20% aluminium powder, used in several types of ordnance such as air-dropped bombs. The aluminium increases the total heat output and hence impulse of the TNT – the length of time during which the blast wave is positive. Tritonal is approximately 18% more powerful than TNT alone.[1]

The 87 kg of tritonal in a Mark 82 bomb has the potential to produce approximately 863 MJ of energy when detonated.[1] This implies a specific energy of approximately 9 MJ/kg, compared to ~4 MJ/kg for TNT.

  1. ^ a b Maienschein, J. L. (July 8, 2002). "Estimating Equivalency of Explosives Through A Thermochemical Approach" (PDF).