The purpose of this test is to determine the effects of a shell breaking inside of a Mortar Tube.  This situation can result from either operator error or a failed lift charge.

Test Date: 6-15-06 

We tested 3 Fiberglass Mortars with a Clay/Resin Plug. We would like to thank J & M Displays, Inc for giving us the mortars for the test.

Test Method:

The mortar was placed in a wooden rack and loaded with a shell capable of producing a catastrophic failure.  

The fiberglass Mortar was not able to contain the explosive blast and failed on each test.

Test #1 with a "Crackle" Shell. Which we have found to have significantly weaker breaks than non-Crackle shells.

In this test, the Rack was able to hold the mortars in place, with a complete blowout of one side.  No pieces of fiberglass were able to be found.  

Click on the pictures for a larger version.

TEST #2

Same as Test 1, but with a non-crackle shell.

This test resulted in a complete rack failure with all adjoining mortars flying in all directions. 

Pieces of the Rack and Fiberglass Mortar were found as far as 50 Feet away. One of the adjacent HDPE Mortars was thrown over 80'.

The Fiberglass mortar was severed in half, the top flew 50', the bottom half was destroyed into small chunks. 

Test #3 

Same results as test 2, except for one adjoining HDPE mortar came to rest 110' from the shoot site.

Click here to see a video of Test #3

This frame is 120 Milliseconds into the break. 

When testing the HDPE, it is found to contain more of the blast force, resulting in much less force being transferred to the surrounding mortars and the rack.

Both HDPE and Fiberglass will fail, but the fiberglass results in a much greater degree of damage to the rack. And debris is thrown much farther.

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