DIAGNOSTIC INSTRUMENTATION FOR BEHIND-ARMOR DEBRIS USING HIGH-SPEED LASER PHOTODETECTION

DYNETICS PROPOSES A NOVEL HIGH-SPEED PHOTONIC DIAGNOSTIC TOOL FOR CHARACTERIZING THE BEHIND-ARMOR EFFECTS OF CHEMICAL-ENERGY WARHEADS AND ARMOR-DEFEAT PHENOMENA. BY SUBDIVIDING THE BEHIND-ARMOR VOLUME INTO REGIONS THAT ARE CONTINUOUSLY MONITORED WITH LASER BEAMS AND PHOTODETECTORS, PASSING PARTICLES ARE DETECTED SINCE THEY MODULATE THE PHOTODETECTOR OUTPUTS. POST-PROCESSING OF THE DIGITIZED, MULTIPLE-DETECTOR OUTPUTS THEN EXTRACTS INFORMATION ABOUT THE SIZE, SPATIAL POSITION, AND TIME OF ARRIVAL OF EACH PARTICLE. SINCE DETECTOR DATA ARE DIGITIZED AND STORED OVER TIME, PARTICLE MOVEMENTS ARE TRACKED FROM BEAM TO BEAM, THEREBY ALLOWING THE VELOCITY AND DIRECTION OF TRAVEL TO BE DETERMINED. BY PERFORMING DATA ANALYSIS FOR ALL PARTICLES, A WEALTH OF INFORMATION IS AVAILABLE TO THE WARHEAD DESIGNER FOR ASSESSING LETHALITY. DYNETICS' PROPOSED APPROACH PROVIDES THE ADVANTAGE OF TRACKING THE ENTIRE PARTICLE FIELD OVER THE TOTAL EVENT DURATION UNLIKE EXISTING APPROACHES SUCH AS HIGH-SPEED PHOTOGRAPHY, LASER DOPPLER MEASUREMENT, AND X-RAY ANALYSIS. DURING THIS PHASE I EFFORT, DYNETICS' OBJECTIVES WOULD BE TO DESIGN, BUILD, AND DEMONSTRATE A SMALL-SCALE VERSION OF THE DIAGNOSTIC INSTRUMENT. THIS RESEARCH WOULD THEN PROVIDE THE REQUISITE BACKGROUND NEEDED TO DEVELOP A COMPLETE TEST SYSTEM IN PHASE II. ANTICIPATED BENEFITS: ANTICIPATED BENEFITS OF THE RESEARCH INCLUDE DEVELOPMENT OF AN ENHANCED DIAGNOSTIC TOOL FOR DESIGNING CHEMICAL-ENERGY WARHEADS AND DEVELOPMENT OF A HIGH-SPEED IN-FLIGHT PARTICLE ANALYSIS SYSTEM THAT COULD BE USEFUL FOR BOTH GOVERNMENT AND COMMERCIAL PROJECTILE ANALYSIS.