Publications

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A multi-point microwave interferometer (MPMI) concept is presented for non-invasively monitoring the internal transit of a shock, detonation, or reaction front in energetic media. The concept utilizes an electro-optic (EO) crystal to impart a timevarying phase lag onto a laser with a microwave signal. Polarization optics convert this phase lag into an amplitude modulation. A heterodyne interferometer compares the modulated laser beam to a constant reference. This enables the detection of changes in the modulating microwave frequency generated by the motion of the measurement surface. The design is scalable and makes use of the established construction and analysis methods employed in photonic Doppler velocimetry (PDV). The technical challenges associated with the concept are the frequency stability of the lasers, the amount of light return after EO modulation, and the frequency uncertainty of fast Fourier transform (FFT) methods.

The combustion of molten metals is an important area of study with applications ranging from solid aluminized rocket propellants to fireworks displays. This work uses digital in-line holography (DIH) to experimentally quantify the three-dimensional position, size, and velocity of aluminum particles during combustion of ammonium perchlorate (AP) based solid-rocket propellants. In addition, spatially resolved particle temperatures are simultaneously measured using two-color imaging pyrometry. To allow for fast characterization of the properties of tens of thousands of particles, automated data processing routines are proposed. Using these methods, statistics from aluminum particles with diameters ranging from 15 to 900 µm are collected at an ambient pressure of 83 kPa. In the first set of DIH experiments, increasing initial propellant temperature is shown to enhance the agglomeration of nascent aluminum at the burning surface, resulting in ejection of large molten aluminum particles into the exhaust plume. The resulting particle number and volume distributions are quantified. In the second set of simultaneous DIH and pyrometry experiments, particle size and velocity relationships as well as temperature statistics are explored. The average measured temperatures are found to be 2640 ± 282 K, which compares well with previous estimates of the range of particle and gas-phase temperatures. The novel methods proposed here represent new capabilities for simultaneous quantification of the joint size, velocity, and temperature statistics during the combustion of molten metal particles. The proposed techniques are expected to be useful for detailed performance assessment of metalized solid-rocket propellants.

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High-speed (20 kHz) digital in-line holography (DIH) is applied for 3D quantification of the size and velocity of fragments formed from the impact of a single water drop onto a thin film of water and burning aluminum particles from the combustion of a solid rocket propellant. To address the depth-of-focus problem in DIH, a regression-based multiframe tracking algorithm is employed, and out-of-plane experimental displacement accuracy is shown to be improved by an order-of-magnitude. Comparison of the results with previous DIH measurements using low-speed recording shows improved positional accuracy with the added advantage of detailed resolution of transient dynamics from single experimental realizations. The method is shown to be particularly advantageous for quantification of particle mass flow rates. For the investigated particle fields, the mass flows rates, which have been automatically measured from single experimental realizations, are found to be within 8% of the expected values.

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Three-dimensional deformation of rupture discs subjected to gas-dynamic shock loading was measured using a stereomicroscope digital image correlation (DIC) system. One-dimensional blast waves generated with a small-diameter, explosively driven shock tube were used for studying the fluid-structure interactions that exist when incident onto relatively low-strength rupture discs. Prior experiments have shown that subjecting the 0. 64-cm-diameter, stainless steel rupture discs to shock waves of varying strength results in a range of responses from no rupture to shear at the outer weld diameter. In this work, the outer surface of the rupture discs were prepared for DIC using 100–150 _m-sized speckles and illuminated with a Xenon flashlamp. Two synchronized Shimadzu HPV-2 cameras coupled to an Olympus microscope captured stereoimage sequences of rupture disc behavior at speeds of 1 MHz. Image correlation performed on the stereo-images resulted in spatially resolved surface deformation. The experimental facility, specifics of the DIC diagnostic technique, and the temporal deformation and velocity of the surface of a rupturing disc are presented.

A multi-point microwave interferometer (MPMI) concept was developed for non-invasively tracking a shock, reaction, or detonation front in energetic media. Initially, a single-point, heterodyne microwave interferometry capability was established. The design, construction, and verification of the single-point interferometer provided a knowledge base for the creation of the MPMI concept. The MPMI concept uses an electro-optic (EO) crystal to impart a time-varying phase lag onto a laser at the microwave frequency. Polarization optics converts this phase lag into an amplitude modulation, which is analyzed in a heterodyne interfer- ometer to detect Doppler shifts in the microwave frequency. A version of the MPMI was constructed to experimentally measure the frequency of a microwave source through the EO modulation of a laser. The successful extraction of the microwave frequency proved the underlying physical concept of the MPMI design, and highlighted the challenges associated with the longer microwave wavelength. The frequency measurements made with the current equipment contained too much uncertainty for an accurate velocity measurement. Potential alterations to the current construction are presented to improve the quality of the measured signal and enable multiple accurate velocity measurements.

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The flash technique was used to measure the thermal diffusivity and specific heat of titanium potassium perchlorate (TKP) ignition powder (33wt% Ti - 67wt% KP) with Ventron sup- plied titanium particles, TKP ignition powder (33wt% Ti - 67wt% KP) with ATK supplied titanium particles, TKP output powder (41wt% Ti - 59wt% KP), and titanium subhydride potassium perchlorate (THKP) (33wt% TiH _1.65 - 67wt% KP) at 25°C. The influence of density and temperature on the thermal diffusivity and specific heat of TKP with Ventron supplied titanium particles was also investigated. Lastly, the thermal diffusivity and specific heats of 9013 glass, 7052 glass, SB-14 glass, and C-4000 Muscovite mica are presented as a function of temperature up to 300° C.

This report summarizes a project in which the authors sought to develop and deploy: (i) experimental techniques to elucidate the complex, multiscale nature of thermal transport in particle-based materials; and (ii) modeling approaches to address current challenges in predicting performance variability of materials (e.g., identifying and characterizing physical- chemical processes and their couplings across multiple length and time scales, modeling information transfer between scales, and statically and dynamically resolving material structure and its evolution during manufacturing and device performance). Experimentally, several capabilities were successfully advanced. As discussed in Chapter 2 a flash diffusivity capability for measuring homogeneous thermal conductivity of pyrotechnic powders (and beyond) was advanced; leading to enhanced characterization of pyrotechnic materials and properties impacting component development. Chapter 4 describes success for the first time, although preliminary, in resolving thermal fields at speeds and spatial scales relevant to energetic components. Chapter 7 summarizes the first ever (as far as the authors know) application of TDTR to actual pyrotechnic materials. This is the first attempt to actually characterize these materials at the interfacial scale. On the modeling side, new capabilities in image processing of experimental microstructures and direct numerical simulation on complicated structures were advanced (see Chapters 3 and 5). In addition, modeling work described in Chapter 8 led to improved prediction of interface thermal conductance from first principles calculations. Toward the second point, for a model system of packed particles, significant headway was made in implementing numerical algorithms and collecting data to justify the approach in terms of highlighting the phenomena at play and pointing the way forward in developing and informing the kind of modeling approach originally envisioned (see Chapter 6). In both cases much more remains to be accomplished.

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The effect of vents on the fast cookoff of energetic materials is studied through experimental modifications to the confinement vessel of the Radiant Heat Fast Cookoff Apparatus. Two venting schemes were investigated: 1) machined grooves at the EM-cover plate interface; 2) radial distribution of holes in PEEK confiner. EM materials of PBXN-109 and PBX 9502 were tested. Challenges with the experimental apparatus and EM materials were identified such that studying the effect of vents as an independent parameter was not realized. The experimental methods, data and post-test observations are presented and discussed.

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