High Speed Photography Analysis Of Cylindrical Shock Waves Generated By Explosive Charges

Utilizing explosives and a special initiation technique cylindrical shock waves were generated in blocks of polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) and lead glass. The propagation of the shock waves was studied with a multiple Kerr-cellcamera. Two types of in-material gauges were applied to the test pieces and the shock stress recorded by the gauges was compared to that calculated from the propagation velocity determined from the photographs. In PMMA well defined cylindrical waves were generated, in lead glass however the explosive system used was unsufficient because of the more linear elastic behaviour of glass under moderate stress.© (1979) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.