Assessment of the Vulnerability and Lethality of Aerospace Systems. Volume 2. Laser Coupling Measurements

Abstract

Piezoresistant gages were used to measure the surface pressure histories produced by pulsed lasers on targets either in air or in a vacuum. A new vapor-deposited ytterbium gage was developed for these measurements. This gage has improved temporal response over older ytterbium gage designs. Calculations relating surface pressure to gage resistance change showed that pressure rise times of about 10 ns can be measured with this gage. In addition to the surface pressure measurements, total impulse was measured during the experiment series in air. The pressure and impulse measurements in air were made using neodymium-glass laser (1.06 micron wavelength) with a pulse width of 30 ns, pulse energies from 100 to 1000 J, and spot sizes of 1 and 2 cm diameter. The pressure measurements in a vacuum were made using an XeF laser (3.532 micron wavelength) with a pulse width of 1.5 microsec, pulse energies from 168 to 241 J, and spot sizes of 8 and 12.4 mm diameter. Keywords: Laser coupling, Wave propagation, Stress gages, Laser target interactions.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
May 31, 1986
Accession Number
ADA207062

Entities

People

  • Bavard S. Holmes

Organizations

  • SRI International

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Advanced Electronics
  • Energy and Power Technologies
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Blast
  • Elements
  • Gages
  • Laser Beams
  • Laser Pulses
  • Laser Spots
  • Laser Targets
  • Lasers
  • Materials
  • Measurement
  • Optical Materials
  • Power Supplies
  • Pressure Measurement
  • Pulsed Lasers
  • Structural Response
  • Three Dimensional
  • Two Dimensional

Fields of Study

  • Physics

Readers

  • Mechanical Engineering/Mechanics of Materials.
  • Pulsed Power and Plasma Physics.

Technology Areas

  • Directed Energy
  • Space
  • Space - Hall-Effect Thruster