Propellants Explosives Pyrotechnics, Vol.41, No.6, 1050-1059, 2016
Quantitative Schlieren Measurement of Explosively-Driven Shock Wave Density, Temperature, and Pressure Profiles
Shock waves produced from the detonation of laboratory-scale explosive charges are characterized using high-speed, quantitative schlieren imaging. This imaging allows the refractive index gradient field to be measured and converted to a density field using an Abel deconvolution. The density field is used in conjunction with simultaneous piezoelectric pressure measurements to determine the shock wave temperature decay profile. Alternatively, the shock wave pressure decay profile can be estimated by assuming the shape of the temperature decay. Results are presented for two explosive sources. The results demonstrate the ability to measure both temperature and pressure decay profiles optically for spherical shock waves that have detached from the driving explosion product gases.