Experiments of the natural fragmentation of explosively-driven metal hemispheres at the 100-gram scale
Spradling, Austin Lake
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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/121410
Description
Title
Experiments of the natural fragmentation of explosively-driven metal hemispheres at the 100-gram scale
Author(s)
Spradling, Austin Lake
Issue Date
2023-07-21
Director of Research (if dissertation) or Advisor (if thesis)
Glumac, Nick G
Elliott, Gregory S
Department of Study
Aerospace Engineering
Discipline
Aerospace Engineering
Degree Granting Institution
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Degree Name
M.S.
Degree Level
Thesis
Keyword(s)
Natural Fragmentation
Metal Hemisphere
High Explosive
Cased Charge
Tantalum
Gallium
Indium
Experimental
Language
eng
Abstract
To study the problem of natural fragmentation of hemispherical high-explosive metal casings, six exploratory experiments were performed at the 100-gram scale using gallium, indium, and tantalum shells with 1:1 and 2:1 explosive-to-shell mass ratios. For each test, soft catch devices were used to capture shell fragments in flight, and other post-test particulates were collected, sieved, and elementally analyzed. For gallium and indium shells, post-test particulate analyses indicate near complete, if not total, conversion to oxide. Preliminary tantalum results suggest that soft catch, particularly ballistic gelatin, along with particle analysis techniques X-ray fluorescence and X-ray diffraction are likely to be useful tools for quantifying its fragment size distribution in flight. Three new optical diagnostics - ratio pyrometry, flash radiography, and high-speed videography - have recently been implemented and show promising results for both qualitative understanding and quantitative measurement of the fragmentation process at early times. Additionally, a technique was developed for press forming a unique shell shape and mounting it in a way that better approximates a spherical system.
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