Cylinder Expansion (Gurney Constant) and Warhead Fragmentation. Part 2. Computerized Data Reduction

Book excerpt: Development of a cylinder expansion test for use in assessing the metal acceleration capability of explosives is discussed. A precisely manufactured metal cylinder is filled with explosive, and its wall expansion during detonation is observed with a streak camera. The photographic record of the cylinder expansion is analyzed by mechanized film reading and high speed computer techniques. The maximum velocity attained by the wall fragments is taken as a measure of the momentum imparted to the metal by the explosive. Both manual and automated methods of data reduction for attainment of test results are given. When standardized, this test procedure will permit the correlation of the evaluations of explosive compounds between laboratories. The computerized reduction of the pictorial data to tabular listings and graphic displays is also discussed.