SLAPPER DETONATOR FLYER VELOCIMETRY BY MICROPHOTOGRAPHY WITH A MULTIFRAME KERR CELL AND CRANZ-SCHARDIN CAMERA

CRITICAL TO ALL EXPLOSING FOIL INITIATOR OR "SLAPPER" SYSTEMS IS THE BRIDGE-BARREL-FLYER COMBINATION, WHICH NEEDS TO BE OPTIMIZED FOR EACH APPLICAITON AND FIRE SET. THE BEST WAY TO DO THIS IS WITH OPTICAL DIAGNOSTICS. PARAMETERS DESIRED ARE THE FLYER POSITION, SHAPE, AND VELOCITY VERSUS TIME AS A FUNCTION OF CHARGE VOLTAGE AND DISCHARGE CURRENT. MULTIFRAME MICROPHOTOGRAPHY OF A FLYER MOVING DOWN A BARREL IS ONE SOLUTION BUT POSES SEVERAL PROBLEMS, ONE OF WHICH IS THE INSUFFICIENT DEPTH OF FIELD OF THE OPTICS SYSTEM. IF MOST OF THE "INFINITE" DIAMETER BARREL LENGTH IS REMOVED AND THE FLYER IS VIEWED FROM THE SIDE, THEN ITS AXIS OF MOVEMENT WILL REMAIN IN FOCUS, DISPLACEMENT VERSUS TIME WILL BE RECORDED, AND ITS SHAPE INFERRED. BRIDGE BURST MAY ALSO BE PHOTOGRAPHED TO GUARANTEE AGAINST SHORTING AND ATTAIN MAXIMUM PERFORMANCE. AFTER A REVIEW OF THE PRINCIPLES OF KERR CELLS, TWO MULTIFRAME KERR CELL CAMERAS WILL BE DESCRIBED. USING A NITROGEN LASER PUMPED DYE SYSTEM AS BACKLIGHT, THE KERR CAMERAS MAY PHOTOGRAPH NONLUMINESCENT OBJECTS. MINUS THE KERR CELLS, THE MULTIFRAME OPTICS AND LASER MAY BE USED IN A CRANZ-SHARDIN MODE. A DEVELOPMENT SCENE IS PUT FORWARD WITH PROOF OF PRINCIPLE EXPERIMENTS.