Ballistic Impact Flash Resulting from Complete Projectile Penetration of Titanium Targets

Abstract

The down range flash resulting from the perforation of thin titanium plates by high velocity steel spheres was investigated to quantify the magnitude and duration of this flash. The titanium flash was compared with the flash resulting from identical spheres impacting aluminum targets. Visually the titanium flash was significantly larger, but measurement of the spectral irradiance at selected wavelengths found the peak intensities were approximately the same. The duration time of the titanium flash was approximately five times as long as the aluminum flash. The flash was found to occur as two events, each of which had distinct flash intensity maxima. The first maxima occurred approximately 10 microseconds after penetration, while the second occurred 30 to 80 microseconds later. Coating the impact surface of the titanium target with either white polyurethane paint, white barium titanate silicone paint, or white flurocarbon paint reduced the down range flash only a small amount.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Dec 01, 1975
Accession Number
ADA019321

Entities

People

  • Joseph G. Aja

Organizations

  • Air Force Institute of Technology

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Air Platforms
  • Energy and Power Technologies
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Air Force
  • Air Force Facilities
  • Aircrafts
  • Combustion
  • Detectors
  • Engineering
  • Explosives
  • Ignition
  • Image Converters
  • Light Sources
  • Measurement
  • Munitions
  • Photomultiplier Tubes
  • Projectiles
  • Test And Evaluation
  • Test Equipment
  • United States

Fields of Study

  • Physics

Readers

  • Brain and Cognitive Science; Experimental Psychology; Cognitive Neuroscience
  • Surface Coatings Technology.
  • ballistics.