Development of a Laboratory-scale Test Facility to Investigate Armor Solutions against Buried Explosive Threats
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to drive a planar shock wave into a layer of sand for use in armor effectiveness studies. We proposed to use an explosively-driven flyer plate to impact the sand layer and launch a shock wave. In detail our concept is to use a slanted flyer plate, with an explosive layer underneath it, and accelerate the flyer plate by detonating the explosive. As the resulting detonation wave runs through the explosive layer, it pushes the flyer plate. If all the geometry is carefully designed and the flyer plate/explosive layers are precisely positioned, we will produce a flat flyer plate that travels on the order of 1 to 2 km/s towards a layer of sand. The subsequent impact will generate a shock wave within the sand that will eventually accelerate the sand with a flat top profile towards the intended target, thus achieving a flat sand-loading profile on the target. Success in these experiments will allow us to be able to test various armor designs for effectiveness in mitigating this threat. Since our experiments are done on a laboratory scale, armor testing can be done in a timely and cost-effective manner.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Dec 01, 2009
- Accession Number
- ADA514267
Entities
People
- Felipe Garcia
Organizations
- Naval Postgraduate School