On the continued acceleration of bomb casing fragments following casing fracture

It has been said that, once a bomb casing has fractured, “detonation gases will then stream around the fragments or bypass them, and the acceleration process stops there.” However, while apparently copious gas flow through casing fractures indicates some pressure release, it is also an indication of...

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Main Authors: Michael D. Hutchinson, David W. Price
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: KeAi Communications Co., Ltd. 2014-06-01
Series:Defence Technology
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214914714000452
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author Michael D. Hutchinson
David W. Price
author_facet Michael D. Hutchinson
David W. Price
author_sort Michael D. Hutchinson
collection DOAJ
description It has been said that, once a bomb casing has fractured, “detonation gases will then stream around the fragments or bypass them, and the acceleration process stops there.” However, while apparently copious gas flow through casing fractures indicates some pressure release, it is also an indication of significant gas drive pressure, post casing fracture. This paper shows two approaches to the problem of calculating the actual loss of drive. One presents first-order analytical calculations, in cylindrical geometry, of pressure loss to the inside surface of a fractured casing. The second shows the modelling of a selected example in the CTH code. Both approaches reveal that gas escape, while occurring at its own sound-speed relative to the adjacent casing fragments, has to compete with rapid radial expansion of the casing. Together with some historic experiments now publicly available, our calculations indicate that post-fracture casing fragment acceleration is, for most systems, unlikely to be reduced significantly.
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spelling doaj.art-a51cbdd7c89d49b7adb4449fdbda51902022-12-21T19:50:43ZengKeAi Communications Co., Ltd.Defence Technology2214-91472014-06-0110221121810.1016/j.dt.2014.06.001On the continued acceleration of bomb casing fragments following casing fractureMichael D. Hutchinson0David W. Price1AWE, Aldermaston, Reading RG7 4PR, UKAWE, Aldermaston, Reading RG7 4PR, UKIt has been said that, once a bomb casing has fractured, “detonation gases will then stream around the fragments or bypass them, and the acceleration process stops there.” However, while apparently copious gas flow through casing fractures indicates some pressure release, it is also an indication of significant gas drive pressure, post casing fracture. This paper shows two approaches to the problem of calculating the actual loss of drive. One presents first-order analytical calculations, in cylindrical geometry, of pressure loss to the inside surface of a fractured casing. The second shows the modelling of a selected example in the CTH code. Both approaches reveal that gas escape, while occurring at its own sound-speed relative to the adjacent casing fragments, has to compete with rapid radial expansion of the casing. Together with some historic experiments now publicly available, our calculations indicate that post-fracture casing fragment acceleration is, for most systems, unlikely to be reduced significantly.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214914714000452Bomb casingFractureGas escapeAnalytical and numerical calculationFragment acceleration
spellingShingle Michael D. Hutchinson
David W. Price
On the continued acceleration of bomb casing fragments following casing fracture
Defence Technology
Bomb casing
Fracture
Gas escape
Analytical and numerical calculation
Fragment acceleration
title On the continued acceleration of bomb casing fragments following casing fracture
title_full On the continued acceleration of bomb casing fragments following casing fracture
title_fullStr On the continued acceleration of bomb casing fragments following casing fracture
title_full_unstemmed On the continued acceleration of bomb casing fragments following casing fracture
title_short On the continued acceleration of bomb casing fragments following casing fracture
title_sort on the continued acceleration of bomb casing fragments following casing fracture
topic Bomb casing
Fracture
Gas escape
Analytical and numerical calculation
Fragment acceleration
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214914714000452
work_keys_str_mv AT michaeldhutchinson onthecontinuedaccelerationofbombcasingfragmentsfollowingcasingfracture
AT davidwprice onthecontinuedaccelerationofbombcasingfragmentsfollowingcasingfracture