Feasibility of Standardized Rain Testing for Fuzes. Serial Number 1.0
Abstract
Rain can cause a fuze to function prior to arriving at a designated target. This report addresses those aspects of a rainfield that relate to the potential problem of preinitiating fuzes designed to function on impact with a target as the primary mode. Data on worldwide natural and spray rainfields is reviewed from the aspect of spacial and drop size variations and their relevance to standardizing a rain test. Inherent in spray and natural rainfields is the statistical uncertainty of what specific encounters occurred during the high velocity portion of the flight. The physics of rain encounter with impact fuzes indicates large drop sizes toward 6 mm diameter are important. A heavy rainfall of at least 20 in./hr biased with larger drops appears feasible for testing. However, to reduce statistical uncertainties on impacting with raindrops, an overhead channel orifice system is described, but the practical assurance of uniform drop spacial distribution militates against such a system. A more feasible system analytically investigated is a 'rain web' consisting of a single or sequence of planar matrices holding 5 or 6 mm diameter drops. This approach allows a firmer determination of the distribution of intercepted drops in any firing, and is easily implemented.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jun 01, 1981
- Accession Number
- ADA110513
Entities
People
- John K. Domen
Organizations
- United States Army Armament Research, Development and Engineering Center