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Jet Penetration of Surrogate Steel‐Explosive Systems
Author(s) -
Ferm Eric,
Ramsay John B.
Publication year - 1991
Publication title -
propellants, explosives, pyrotechnics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.56
H-Index - 65
eISSN - 1521-4087
pISSN - 0721-3115
DOI - 10.1002/prep.19910160307
Subject(s) - explosive material , supersonic speed , materials science , penetration (warfare) , streak , jet (fluid) , nitromethane , mechanics , composite material , optics , physics , chemistry , organic chemistry , operations research , engineering , thermodynamics
Predicting the jet initiation of an explosive that is covered and in intimate contact with an inert material, is sensitive to the history of the jet in both the cover and the explosive. If the penetration velocity in the cover is subsonic, the acceptor explosive experiences complex wave structures that are significantly different from the case where the penetration velocity is supersonic. The pressure history in the explosive may cause prompt initiation, desensitization, or delayed initiation. We have used transparent polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) as a surrogate for the explosive, allowing us to experimentally visualize the transition between the subsonic penetration behavior in a steel cover and the quasi‐steady supersonic penetration behavior in the PMMA. The wave histories in PMMA downstream from two steel covers of different thicknesses have been measured by streak and image intensifier cameras and by flash radiography simultaneously. These were augmented with pressure gauges to measure the pressure history for one of the thicknesses. These experimental results and subsequent analysis show how initiation of an explosive acceptor can occur at various distances from the interface, depending on the thickness of the cover plate.