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torblind wrote:
Water that's in the air is already in gasuous form, it can't boil and certainly wouldn't hiss.

Much like an outdoor bonfire doesn't hiss even if it too would affect "the water in the air" that's straight above it.

Than again.

A bonfire is far less concentrated and instantaneous than a melta weapon though. As for moisture in the air, it's generally not a gas as ambient temperatures are below 100 degrees, water will be suspended as tiny droplets of water. As humidity increases, the amount of water droplets in the air will go up. Though given that 40K battles occur across the universe in atmospheres that might not resemble earth's (low or high pressure, low amounts of water naturally occurring on a planet, battling in space, etc.) the amount of water will be variable.

The rapid heat expansion would make a lot of noise. Far less than a normal explosion of course, but it would still be audible. It would sound a bit like a sucking vacuum. Plus any thermal expansion in the materials directly effected. Metal near the impact site would squeal and creak as it flexed from the heat. Air or liquids in nearby pipes would heat up and create greater pressure, possibly popping joints and jetting or hissing out into the nearby area. Anything flammable would catch fire and begin to burn.

I think scientifically it would be impossible for the not to make sound, I don’t think there is any transference of energy that doesn’t make sounds in an atmosphere. At least using the real earth as an example.

I always imagined that a meltabomb would sound a bit like a really loud thermite grenade.