Properties of Soundless Chemical Demolition Agents

The traditional approach to demolish concrete structures or to reduce the sizes of large rocks or boulders has typically included the use of explosives. The resulting explosions are associated with the obvious risks posed by shock waves and fly rock. These, along with other detrimental side effects of using explosives, have increased an interest in the use of alternative methods to demolish rock and concrete structures. Soundless chemical demolition agents (SCDAs) have proven to be viable substitutes for the use of explosives. SCDAs are powdery materials that will expand considerably when mixed with water. This expansion, when occurring under confinement, generates significant expansive pressures. These pressures are sufficient to break up rock and concrete when the SCDA is confined in a borehole or a series of boreholes. Experiments have been conducted with SCDAs to learn more about those variables that tend to hamper or enhance SCDA performance. Results show that the amount of mixing water and the ambient temperature are the most important variables in influencing the generation of SCDA expansive pressures.