Composition B

Post-World War II German DM41 fragmentation hand grenade filled with Composition B. This example has been dissected to reveal the steel fragmentation sleeve and yellow explosive charge.

Composition B (Comp B), also known as Hexotol and Hexolite (among others), is a high explosive consisting of castable mixtures of RDX and TNT. It is used as the main explosive filling in artillery projectiles, rockets, land mines, hand grenades, and various other munitions.[1] It was also used for the explosive lenses in the first implosion-type nuclear weapons developed by the United States.[2][3]

The standard proportions of ingredients (by weight) are 59.5% RDX (detonation velocity of 8,750 m/s) and 39.5% TNT (detonation velocity of 6,900 m/s), phlegmatized with 1% paraffin wax.[4] Most commonly it is described as 60/40 RDX/TNT with 1% wax added.

  1. ^ Cooper, Paul W. (1996). Explosives Engineering. Wiley-VCH. ISBN 978-0-471-18636-6.
  2. ^ Atom Bombs: The Top Secret Inside Story of Little Boy and Fat Man, John Coster-Mullen, 2003
  3. ^ Nuclear Weapons FAQ section 8.1.1: The Design of Gadget, Fat Man, and "Joe 1" (RDS-1), accessed August 10, 2009
  4. ^ Military Specification MIL-C-401