Citation

Clarke SD, Fay SD, Rigby SE, Tyas A, Warren JA, Reay JJ, Fuller BJ, Gant MT, Elgy ID. J. Vis. Exp. 2016; (113): e53412.

Affiliation

Blast and IED Protection, Physical Sciences Department, Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl).

Copyright

(Copyright © 2016, MYJoVE Corporation)

DOI

10.3791/53412

PMID

27404117

Abstract

Near-field blast load measurement presents an issue to many sensor types as they must endure very aggressive environments and be able to measure pressures up to many hundreds of megapascals. In this respect the simplicity of the Hopkinson pressure bar has a major advantage in that while the measurement end of the Hopkinson bar can endure and be exposed to harsh conditions, the strain gauge mounted to the bar can be affixed some distance away. This allows protective housings to be utilized which protect the strain gauge but do not interfere with the measurement acquisition. The use of an array of pressure bars allows the pressure-time histories at discrete known points to be measured. This article also describes the interpolation routine used to derive pressure-time histories at un-instrumented locations on the plane of interest. Currently the technique has been used to measure loading from high explosives in free air and buried shallowly in various soils.

Language: en