Time-resolved diagnostics for concrete target response

In order to facilitate the design of advanced penetrating weapons for defeating land targets, the interaction of concrete with high-velocity penetrators needs to be better characterized. To aid in this effort, three new types of time-resolved diagnostics are being developed and have been used in two experiments and one demonstration: fiber optic arrays to localize penetrators in space and time, Fabry-Perot velocimetry to record the concrete particle velocity, which is related to the pressure, at specific locations within concrete targets, and micropower impulse radar to provide a non-intrusive measure of the penetrator position-time history in a target. The two experiments used the fiber optic array and the Fabry-Perot velocimeter to diagnose the response of concrete to penetration by a Viper shaped charge jet. The results were analyzed using the CALE continuum mechanics simulation program, for which a preliminary model of the material properties of concrete was developed. The fiber optic arrays recorded the bow shock at locations 6.4 and 16.9 cm from the front surfaces. The Fabry-Perot velocimeter measured a free-surface velocity of 0.13 km/s at a distance of 3 cm and obliquity 70 degrees from the jet, which was moving at an interface velocity of 4.0 km/s at a depth of 29 cm. These values imply a pressure of about 6.6 kbar at that location. The demonstration used micropower impulse radar with a pulse repetition frequency of 0.25 MHz and a cell size of 30 ps to detect and record the motion of a metal penetrator simulant moving inside a cylindrical concrete target.