Sciencemadness Discussion Board - Be the first kid on the block with a incendiary Frisbee®

Be the first kid on the block with a incendiary Frisbee®

The WiZard is In - 15-8-2011 at 06:17

Summary Technical Report of Division 11, NDRC
Volume 3
Fire Warfare : Incendiaries and Flame Throwers
1946

M1 INCENDIARY LEAF

Development of this item was initiated in September 1940 by Brown University under
Contract OEMsr-57. The objective was to develop an impact-sensitive ignition coating
for incendiaries, especially celluloid incendiary leaves. The British had used incendiary
leaves early in World War II using white phosphorus as a means of spontaneous
ignition, and impact-sensitive ignition coating appeared to have possible merit.

The principal incendiaries for which this coating is intended are celluloid disks
approximately 7.7-in. diameter by 1/4 in. thick. The result is an incendiary leaf which-
fires on impact. The steps in producing the impact-sensitive coating are as follows.

1. The disks are immersed in a solution composed of 5.0 per cent polyvinyl alcohol
(du Pont RH-428), 47.5 per cent methyl alcohol, 45.5 per cent water, and then dried in
air. The purpose of this coating is to protect the celluloid against the action of the
storage liquid, which is principally carbon tetrachloride.
2. About 1/2 in. of the periphery of the disks is coated with red phosphorus by
rotating the disks at a predetermined depth of immersion in either of two
suspensions. Suspension A has the composition 17.4 per cent red. phosphorus, 1.5
per cent calcium carbonate, 4.1 per cent celluloid, 77.0 per cent nitromethane.
Suspension B has the composition 29.3 per cent red phosphorus, 2.4 per cent calcium
carbonate, 6.8 per cent celluloid, 61.5 per cent acetone. This coating is then dried in air.
3. The phosphorus coating is then covered by a sensitizing coating by rotating
through a solution composed of 17.6 per cent sodium per-chlorate, 4.5 per cent
pyroxylin, 23.4 per cent ethyl acetate, 54.5 per cent acetone. This coating is dried in
air with a relative humidity of at least 60 per cent to prevent spontaneous ignition.
4. Final dehydration and drying is then accomplished by suspending the disks in
boiling carbon tetrachloride, or its vapors, until they are sufficiently dried to become
sensitive.
5. The sensitized disks are packed in a cylindrical metal container in which they are
immersed in a storage solution composed of 80 to 85 per cent carbon tetrachloride
and 15 to 20 per cent heptane.

This coating remained sensitive on storage for 155 days at 60 centigrade and for 230
days at room temperature. Surveillance was discontinued at these times so that the
stability for longer times is not known. Coatings employing sodium chlorate or
potassium chlorate did not remain sensitive for periods of more than a few weeks,
and they were discarded for this reason.

These incendiary leaves were carried in air-planes in cylindrical metal bomb cases provided
with a time fuze for opening and discharge of the leaves at a predetermined altitude.
The disks were blown out of the tail end of the bomb case by an explosive charge in
the nose, and after drying out in flight, the leaves would ignite on impact on the
ground or a building. However, on flight tests it was found that many of the leaves
were ignited in the air by the force of the ejection, while many would still not ignite
on impact on the ground. This showed that the limits of allowable sensitivity were quite
narrow and great uniformity of the sensitive coating would be necessary for
satisfactory performance. The development was discontinued at this point, although
some experiments indicated that several means might be used for preventing the
ignition of leaves on discharge from the bomb case.

It should be mentioned that the M2 incendiary leaf, developed by Chemical Warfare
Service in parallel with the M1 leaf, consisting of a celluloid disk with an insert of
white phosphorus, similar to the original British leaves, looked considerably more
promising than the M1 leaf. Development of both these items was discontinued
because the requirement for this type of incendiary was dropped.

tang powder - 8-9-2011 at 07:33

awesome.
make the phosphorous coating out of matchbooks and epoxy thinner a blasting gelatin frizbee from NG and NC.... itll take some refining.
go to the beach and toss it for some random person's golden retriever.

Bot0nist - 8-9-2011 at 09:02

Quote: Originally posted by tang powder

awesome.
make the phosphorous coating out of matchbooks and epoxy thinner a blasting gelatin frizbee from NG and NC.... itll take some refining.
go to the beach and toss it for some random person's golden retriever.

Damn, dog lover aren't you?

I thought this looked interesting when I first read it, but scary. I wonder if a smaller and simpler design could be improvised safely. It would be a fun project, but it would likely be costly and difficult and may go up in your face.

I wonder if using a thin cellulose nitrate lacquer with dissolve or colloidal sodium chlorate as a coating on a layer of red phosphorous, as the article used, would be safer (from spontaneous ignition) than premixed Armstrong-like mixes but still effectively sensitive to impact. Would there be a simpler storage solution than carbon tet? Maybe it could be left out it if they were just made very small , one at a time, and not stored. If so, then the first treatment of the disk with polyvinyl alcohol in methanol could also be left out.

I don't think the burning of celluloid is ridiculously hot, so would these have been used effectively against targets such as wood, brush, ships, etc? I wonder if there is sufficient phosphorus on the disks to supplement the incendiary effects. I still doubt they would have worked against hard targets composed primarily of metals. Maybe they employed a slow burning celluloid composition, maybe with a higher terpenoid content, to increase its effectiveness at starting fires.

[Edited on 8-9-2011 by Bot0nist]

The WiZard is In - 8-9-2011 at 09:40

Quote: Originally posted by Bot0nist

I don't think the burning of celluloid is ridiculously hot, so would these have been used effectively against targets such as wood, brush, ships, etc? I wonder if there is sufficient phosphorus on the disks to supplement the incendiary effects. I still doubt they would have worked against hard targets composed primarily of metals. Maybe they employed a slow burning celluloid composition, maybe with a higher terpenoid content, to increase its effectiveness at starting fires.

At this moment I am not sure what la cards were composed of.
Time permitting I'll see what I can find.

http://tinyurl.com/Phosphorus-Calling-Cards-PSM

This suggest paper. I have my doubts.

http://tinyurl.com/3wqqrg9

Bot0nist - 8-9-2011 at 09:53

Quote: Originally posted by The WiZard is In

I believe the article said they were made of celluloid, which I thought to mean a mix of camphor and cellulose nitrate.

Edit: thanks for the "Calling card" article and pictures. It said they were used on German farmlands before harvest. Celluloid would be plenty able to devastate dry crops and farm buildings like barns filled with hay/grain.

[Edited on 8-9-2011 by Bot0nist]

The Incendiary Leaf / Phosphorus Calling Card

The WiZard is In - 8-9-2011 at 10:59

Attachment: Incendiary Leaf.pdf (718kB)
This file has been downloaded 651 times

quicksilver - 8-9-2011 at 11:51

The concept is workable with NaClO3 & an anti-acid (soluble carbonate type) and a roughened sulfate (antimony trisulfate needles). But from a historical standpoint incendiary munitions generally used powerful magnesium / aluminum casement that also acted as a fuel. It's my guess that in a military conflict material destruction puts much greater demands on the design than could be delivered via small scale "matchbook temperatures".
Many have heard of the contemplated use of bats with tiny incendiary charges during the Pacific Campaign. I imagine that was dropped (no pun intended) for the same reason.

The WiZard is In - 8-9-2011 at 12:28

Quote: Originally posted by quicksilver

Many have heard of the contemplated use of bats with tiny incendiary charges during the Pacific Campaign. I imagine that was dropped (no pun intended) for the same reason.

Jack Couffer
Bat Bomb : World War II's Other Secret Weapon
U of Texas Press, 1992

There is a phrase in Latin by Virgil that best describes this book –
Apparent rari nantes in gurgite vasco. I translate it as — This book
is Long on Chit-Chat and BS.

@239 pages — la book is 235 pages tooooooo long.

The only thing the set alight by BB's was an US AF hanger and a generals car!