Researchers Hope to Wash Away Land Mines

April 8, 2002
Contact: Claire Faucett
Phone: 573-341-4328
E-mail: denboc@umr.edu

UMR RESEARCHERS HOPE TO WASH AWAY LAND MINES

ROLLA, Mo. -- Researchers at the University of Missouri-Rolla hope to wash away the problem of land mines with technology that harnesses -- and focuses -- the power of water, as a child's plastic water pistol does.

"When a child gets a hold of a water pistol and is spraying things at random, the child probably doesn't notice that when the water hits different surfaces it makes a different noise," says Dr. David Summers, Curators' Professor of mining engineering and director of UMR's Rock Mechanics and Explosives Research Center. Summers is leading UMR's efforts to use waterjets to find land mines.

The use of waterjets will not only make it easier to find land mines, but also will make it possible to destroy them without causing an explosion, Summers says.

"By using a waterjet we focus on the humanitarian side of demining," says Summers. "We are trying to help find a way for countries to get rid of land mines without the danger that is normally involved. These mines are the cause of many civilian casualties." Not a lot of progress has been made in land mine detection since World War II, he adds.

This project, titled "Implementation of New Waterjet Technology for Humanitarian Demining," is a sub-contract from the Science Applications International Corp. (SAIC) for $668,000. SAIC, a Fortune 500 company, is the largest employee-owned research and engineering company in the nation and is funding this effort as part of a program being carried out for the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD).

This project follows on the heels of a five-year project funded by the DOD. In the previous research, UMR led a consortium of five universities -- UMR, the University of Missouri-Columbia, Carnegie Mellon University, the University of Kansas and the University of Texas at Arlington -- to explore a myriad of ways to neutralize land mines.

UMR's waterjet approach to mine detection includes spraying a stream of water on the ground, then listening to the sound it makes. From this reading, researchers can detect an abnormality in the ground and possibly uncover a land mine. Dr. Daryl Beetner, assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering at UMR, heads up this area of the research. He says this method is faster than the traditional method of using a metal rod to probe the ground every two inches.

Next, instead of digging the mine up by hand and endangering the excavator, a remotely controlled tool fitted with a waterjet would do the job. This device, called a Confined Sluicing End Effector, involves a hollow tube on the tool with waterjets that spin around it, while a second system creates a vacuum in the tube. Dr. Greg Galecki, research assistant professor of rock mechanics, who is in charge of this portion of the program at UMR, says this device will remove all the soil covering half of the mine in about 10 seconds.

Normally, after a land mine is unearthed, it is blown up, but a waterjet can destroy the mine without making it explode. "A waterjet is used to cut the mine horizontally in two," says Summers. "This cuts right through everything, including the fuse, without setting it off." This method effectively destroys the mine without endangering the person directly working with it or others in the area, says Summers.

The aim of the program is to develop a system which will cost under $10,000 -- relatively cheap when compared to other methods being contemplated.

Dealing with dense terrain is a challenge for UMR researchers. According to Summers, land irregularities make it more difficult to detect mines. For example, if a shrub has grown up over a small section of land, the land underneath the shrub may contain a land mine, but the waterjet (or any other detection device) may miss it because it cannot spray directly on the surface. Summers and other UMR researchers are currently working on ways to solve this problem.

"All mines must be found; we can't even miss one," says Summers. "Bear in mind what you clear today you are kneeling on tomorrow."

UMR may join efforts with the Fort Leonard Wood, Mo., Humanitarian Demining Training Center. The military has many programs in place to teach the indigenous people of mine-infested lands how to find and get rid of land mines, Summers says. With the use of a waterjet UMR may get the opportunity to help these people rid themselves of mines more effectively.

The waterjet is currently used in making a variety of products. For example, a waterjet cuts the carpet in most cars because it cuts so fast, is sterile, and is less expensive than other methods. Other uses include cutting cardboard and making candy bars, frozen foods and aircraft components.

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