A method involves determining an expansion charge able to selectively expand, without perforating or cutting through, a wall of a tubular in a wellbore. The method includes determining conditions in the wellbore, including hydrostatic pressure bearing on the tubular in the wellbore, and a physical characteristic of the tubular. At a second location other than the wellbore, at least one of the conditions determined in the wellbore is reproduced, and a test tubular is provided at the second location. A test expansion charge able to expand, without perforating or cutting through, the wall of the test tubular, is determined based on the determined conditions. The determined test expansion charge is positioned within the test tubular, and is then actuated to expand the wall of the test tubular radially outward, without perforating or cutting through the wall, to form a test protrusion in the wall of the test tubular.

The present invention provides three piece primer insert for use in polymer ammunition comprising: an upper primer insert portion comprising an upper primer insert bottom portion, a substantially cylindrical coupling element extending away from the upper primer insert bottom portion; and an upper flash aperture that extends through the upper primer insert bottom portion, a lower primer insert portion in contact with the upper primer insert portion, wherein the lower primer insert portion comprises a lower primer insert top portion positioned adjacent to the upper primer insert bottom portion at a connection joint, a lower flash aperture positioned in the lower primer insert top portion and aligned with the upper flash aperture, and a primer recess that extends away from the lower primer insert top portion to an extraction flange and in communication with the lower flash aperture; and a connecting portion that secures the upper primer insert portion and the lower primer insert portion wherein the connecting portion comprises a connecting member positioned in the upper flash aperture and the lower flash aperture, an upper tab connected to the connecting member to extend away from the upper flash aperture into the upper primer insert portion, a lower tab connected to the connecting member to extend away from the lower flash aperture into the primer recess, and a flash hole that extends from the upper tab to the lower tab to connect the upper primer insert bottom portion to the primer recess.

A cartridge that generates higher than typical chamber pressures has an enhanced means of primer retention for retaining the primer in the primer recess of the casing. The means may be a lip folded onto a conical surface, a annular groove to receive deformed primer wall portion material upon detonation, a concavity in the rearward facing wall of the primer, a check valve in the flash tube to inhibit propellant gases from reaching the primer recess, or specifically configured primers with a greater length than diameter and with greater wall thicknesses.

A shaped charge assembly for selectively expanding a wall of a tubular includes a housing comprising an outer surface facing away from the housing and an opposing inner surface facing an interior of the housing. First and second explosive units each includes a predetermined amount of explosive sufficient to expand, without puncturing, at least a portion of the wall of the tubular to form a protrusion extending outward into an annulus adjacent the wall of the tubular.

A detonator includes a substrate, a controller mounted to the substrate, and a sensor coupled to the controller to measure a temperature, pressure, acceleration or other environmental parameter of the detonator. The controller is configured to transmit the measured environmental parameter from the detonator to a remote master controller, execute an action in response to a value of the measured environmental parameter, and/or prevent or modify at least one detonator function in response to the value of the measured environmental parameter.

A shaped charge assembly for selectively expanding a wall of a tubular includes a housing comprising an outer surface facing away from the housing and an opposing inner surface facing an interior of the housing. First and second explosive units each includes a predetermined amount of explosive sufficient to expand, without puncturing, at least a portion of the wall of the tubular to form a protrusion extending outward into an annulus adjacent the wall of the tubular.

A method involves determining an expansion charge able to selectively expand, without perforating or cutting through, a wall of a tubular in a wellbore. The method includes determining conditions in the wellbore, including hydrostatic pressure bearing on the tubular in the wellbore, and a physical characteristic of the tubular. At a second location other than the wellbore, at least one of the conditions determined in the wellbore is reproduced, and a test tubular is provided at the second location. A test expansion charge able to expand, without perforating or cutting through, the wall of the test tubular, is determined based on the determined conditions. The determined test expansion charge is positioned within the test tubular, and is then actuated to expand the wall of the test tubular radially outward, without perforating or cutting through the wall, to form a test protrusion in the wall of the test tubular.

One embodiment of the present invention provides a polymeric ammunition having a metal injection molded primer insert.

Embodiments of a low-voltage, non-primary explosive detonator (110) may include a detonator shell (120) having an open end (122), a closed end (124), and a hollow interior (125) between the open and closed ends. Some embodiments include a reinforcement area of the detonator shell. A pyrotechnical material is disposed within the hollow interior, and a main explosive load is disposed within the hollow interior in between the pyrotechnical material and the closed end. In some embodiments, one or both of the pyrotechnical material and the main explosive load may be multilayered, for example with a density gradient configured to accelerate eflagration. The detonator may further include a fuse head disposed at the open end and in proximity to the pyrotechnical material within the detonator shell.

Various types of structures, along with associated systems, are disclosed herein and configured for responding to an energy wave for changing a state of a mechanism to which said structures are operatively coupled. In at least one embodiment, the structure provides a material selectively changeable upon exposure to the energy wave to cause at least a portion of the material to mechanically degrade from a first state to a second state. When the material is in the first state, the material forms a mechanical or electrical link with the mechanism such that a force or an electrical current can be transmitted through the structure. When the material is in the second state, degradation of at least the portion of the material disrupts the mechanical or electrical link and inhibits transmission of the force or electrical current through the structure.