PIEZOELECTRIC DETONATOR

LOW ENERGY FLYING PLATE DETONATORS USING CONVENTIONAL INVERTER AND CAPACITOR DISCHARGE DIRING SYSTEMS ARE LIMITED TO THE REDUCTION IN THEIR SIZE BY THE NUMBER OF ELECTRICAL COMPONENTS REQUIRED AND THE EXTERNAL POWER SOURCE. PIEZOELECTRIC MATERIALS OFFER THE POSSIBILITIES OF GREATLY REDUCING THE NUMBER OF COMPONENTS REQUIRED TO FUNCTION A FLYING PLATE DETONATOR AND THEREFORE REDUCE SYSTEM VOLUME. PIEZOELECTRIC MATERIALS CAN BE ADAPTED TO GENERATE THEIR ENERGY FROM THE ENVIRONMENT WHICH IS REQUIRED FOR SAFE OPERATION. THIS PROPOSAL PROGRAM WILL EVALUATE A FLYING PLATE DETONATOR DESIGNED TO BE FUNCTIONED BY A PIEZOELECTRIC PULSE. PROTOTYPE AND THRESHOLD TESTS WILL BE CONDUCTED AND FEASIBILITY WILL BE DETERMINED. THE EXPECTED RESULTS ARE A FLYING PLATE DETONATOR WHICH WILL FUNCTION FROM THE MECHANICAL STRESSING OF A PIEZOELECTRIC MATERIAL IN THE RANGE OF ONE CUBIC INCH VOLUME. RISI WILL USE ITS 17 YEARS OF EXPERIENCE IN DESIGN OF SECONDARY INITIATORS TO INTEGRATE THIS POWER SOURCE WITH A FLYING PLATE DETONATOR.