Optically-based Standoff Diagnostic to Interrogate the Evolution of Liquid Ejected from Containers Impacted by Shock and Fragments

The goal of the proposed work is to enable spatio-temporally resolved contact-free measurements of the spray development from agent simulant disseminators impacted by shocks and fragments under relevant testing conditions. The proposed innovation is the development of compact, high-speed, multicolor light sources coupled with multiplexed ultrahigh-resolution imaging systems to achieve a full dynamic range from microns to meters and 100s of nanoseconds to 100s of milliseconds. This approach will be utilized to capture the full spray and aerosol evolution across a wide range of scales, including spray break-up, atomization, and dispersion under explosive forcing. The Phase I will focus on demonstrating compact and powerful light sources and imaging systems to predict performance characteristics during the Phase II period. This will be accomplished using novel custom-developed opto-electronic devices, and the performance will be compared with advanced burst-mode laser-based imaging instrumentation currently available within the research team. Bench-scale testing will be performed using an explosive disseminator while varying the liquid breakup and atomization processes with a range of liquid loadings and exit hole sizes. The optical arrangement will be characterized, including laser power, spatio-temporal resolution, and measurement dynamic range in preparation for Phase II instrument development and demonstration at relevant conditions.