Standard Practice for Identification and Classification of Smokeless Powder

Abstract

5.1 This practice describes criteria for the analysis, identification, and classification of smokeless powders which can be used as an explosive for improvised explosive devices or as a propellant, such as for small arms ammunition and military ordnance. 5.2 This practice establishes the minimum requirements necessary to identify and classify smokeless powders as single-base, double-base, or triple-base. 5.3 The morphology and chemical composition of a smokeless powder is used for identification and classification of intact grain(s). 5.3.1 The identification of a questioned sample as smokeless powder does not require the identification of chemical compounds other than nitrocellulose. 5.3.2 The classification of a smokeless powder as single-base, double-base, or triple-base requires chemical analysis to determine the presence or absence of nitroglycerin and nitroguanidine. 5.4 Refer to Test Methods E2999 for the analysis of organic compounds in smokeless powders using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). 5.5 This practice does not address the following aspects of smokeless powder analysis: intercomparison of samples, identification of residues in the absence of visible grains or partial grains, or extraction and identification of inorganic components.