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Pipe Bomb Frag Pattern

A practical experiment was conducted to analyze the shrapnel fragmentation pattern from a pipe bomb explosion, which is a common improvised explosive device. The study revealed that shrapnel traveled significant distances, with horizontal fragments recorded over three hundred feet and overhead shrapnel exceeding five hundred feet. The results showed an unexpected distribution of shrapnel sizes, with a notable number of small fragments at further distances, and highlighted the potential dangers posed by pipe bombs even without additional shrapnel enhancements.

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Jorge Anibal Sommariva
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3 views2 pages

Pipe Bomb Frag Pattern

A practical experiment was conducted to analyze the shrapnel fragmentation pattern from a pipe bomb explosion, which is a common improvised explosive device. The study revealed that shrapnel traveled significant distances, with horizontal fragments recorded over three hundred feet and overhead shrapnel exceeding five hundred feet. The results showed an unexpected distribution of shrapnel sizes, with a notable number of small fragments at further distances, and highlighted the potential dangers posed by pipe bombs even without additional shrapnel enhancements.

Uploaded by

Jorge Anibal Sommariva
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Pipe Bomb Fragmentation Pattern: A Practical Experiment

by Members of the Dothan, Alabama Police Bomb and Explosive Detail, Region VI

Pipe bombs are probably the most common form of improvised explosive device (IED) that bomb technicians encounter. Pipe bombs
vary dramatically in their quality, sophistication and construction. The most common filler that will be encountered is smokeless
gunpowder.

What is an unknown, is the pattern of shrapnel resulting from a pipe bomb explosion. With this in mind, a practical experiment was
conducted to determine what size, range and distribution of shrapnel could be expected from a typical pipe bomb.

The criteria for the test were a surface blast using a pipe bomb. The test was conducted in an open pit with soil consisting of sandy clay.
The day was partly sunny with a temperature of 86 degrees Fahrenheit and a relative humidity of 66%. Winds were less than five miles
per hour. Digital images, 35mm slide, VHS format and 8-mm format videotapes were made of the test.

The fragmentation qualitative test used witness plates that were ¼ inch corrugated commercial cardboard panels that were 2 feet by 6
feet and stapled to stakes driven in the ground. The panels touched the ground and simulated the approximate size of a person. These
devices were to serve as witness plates for recording shrapnel. Fragment travel was recorded by penetrations of the cardboard. Arbitrary
sizes of the entry holes were classified as small, medium and large. The penetration classification consisted of ¼ inch or smaller being
classified as small. Holes of greater than ¼ inch up to ½ inch were classified as medium. Holes of greater than ½ inch were classified
as large. Only full penetrations of shrapnel were classified. Those that either retained the shrapnel or where the shrapnel bounced off the
cardboard without penetrating were not considered. The cardboard was set up in concentric circles of ten, fifteen and thirty feet. The
two inner rings contained seventeen panels circling the blast location such that there was no overlap and all areas were covered. The
outer ring at thirty feet was evenly spaced around the site with sixteen panels. The panels started from the north at panel one and were
numbered clockwise around the site. The pipe bomb was oriented with the end caps facing the north – east to south – west axis.

The pipe bomb used standard ¼ inch galvanized pipe with threaded end caps. The pipe was two inches in diameter by twelve inches in
length with a drilled hole in one end cap to allow filling with triple base smokeless gunpowder. Approximately ¾ pound of smokeless
gunpowder was used in the device. The device was initiated by a three-foot section of fifty-grain detonation cord with a standard
number eight blasting cap.

The overpressure and/or shrapnel from the blast blew all but five of the witness plates down. Horizontal fragments were recorded to
more than three hundred feet and overhead shrapnel was recorded to more than five hundred feet. The chart below lists the shrapnel
penetrations of each witness plate.

Distance Penetrations Penetrations Penetrations


10 feet Small Medium Large
1 5 0 1
2 7 0 2
3 0 0 0
4 1 2 1
5 1 0 0
6 7 0 0
7 0 3 0
8 0 3 0
9 0 4 5
10 0 0 3
11 0 1 2
12 0 1 1
13 0 0 1
14 0 0 1
15 1 0 1
16 1 0 1
17 1 0 1
Total 24 14 20
Penetrations
Total Penetrations at Ten feet = 58
Distance Penetrations Penetrations Penetrations Distance Penetrations Penetrations Penetrations
15 feet Small Medium Large 30 feet Small Medium Large
1. 4 0 0 1. 5 0 0
2. 2 3 3 2. 3 0 1
3. 2 3 6 3. 0 0 0
4. 3 1 0 4. 1 0 0
5. 0 2 0 5. 0 3 1
6. 4 4 2 6. 1 0 0
7. 0 2 2 7. 0 0 0
8. 0 0 0 8. 0 0 0
9. 2 2 2 9. 0 0 0
10. 0 1 2 10. 0 0 0
11. 3 13 6 11. 1 0 0
12. 2 2 0 12. 2 1 0
13. 0 3 4 13. 0 0 0
14. 4 0 4 14. 0 0 0
15. 1 0 0 15. 1 0 0
16. 0 0 2 16. 0 0 0
17. 0 0 0 Total
Total 14 4 2
25 36 33 Penetrations
Penetrations

Total Penetrations Total Penetrations


at Fifteen feet = 94 at Thirty feet = 20

Grand Total Penetrations for the shot = 172

Conclusions

The pipe bomb produced a sizeable amount of shrapnel. The shrapnel tended to hit witness plates at higher levels the further it traveled
and this was expected. What was not expected were the fewer number of hits closer to the blast. The distribution of shrapnel size was
equal up to the thirty-foot range. At the thirty foot range the highest number of hits were small shrapnel. This is puzzling, as typically
one would have expected the distribution of larger shrapnel to be more numerous at this range. The circular pattern of shrapnel gave
a fairly even distribution of shrapnel at close range. In the medium range, fifteen feet, witness plate eleven received numerous medium
fragments that were identified as blasting cap fragments. It was surprising that the blasting cap traveled this far and was still fairly
intact.

This practical qualitative experiment demonstrates that a pipe bomb, even without enhanced attached shrapnel, still produces a significant
number of fragments that travel at high velocity. Horizontal trajectory shrapnel was limited to approximately three hundred feet.
Large fragments were found in the fifty to one hundred foot ranges. A substantial amount of overhead shrapnel that traveled to more
than five hundred feet was also produced. The pipe end caps were not located but shrapnel with threads was located approximately
three hundred feet away.

Members of the Dothan Police Bomb and Explosive Detail that assisted in writing this article and performing the research include:
Captain Jim Smith, author; Sergeant Gary Coleman, photography and videography; Cpl. Scott Heath, shot construction and diagrams;
Cpl. John Skipper, videography and photography; Officer Chris Vida, shot construction and data compilation; Cpl. Carl Midkiff and
Officer Tim Ellison, shot construction.

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