Observation of the Velocity Variation of an Explosively-Driven Flat Flyer Depending on the Flyer Width

Lim proposed a theoretical study on the velocity profile of an explosively-driven flat flyer affected by the rarefaction (or release wave) intrusion during the metal’s projection. This work shows somewhat reasonable agreement in a given range. However, this work is limited only in the early stage of detonation (~3 µs), and the larger scaled flyer projection (or extended time duration) behavior is needed for an engineering perspective. As continued work originating from this investigation, the velocity profile of explosively-driven flyers with different widths is studied based on multiple different approaches which include hydrocode simulation, the Gurney model, and Baum’s side loss correction (or effective charge mass approach), followed by a series of field experiments. In this study, the focus is on the observation of the flat flyer velocity (or terminal velocity) variation, depending on the width of the flyers which vary from 12, 25, 50, and 75 mm (or 100 mm). The terminal velocity profile variation, depending on the flyer width, is observed, and a general trend is identified.