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An underwater explosive shock gun

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 March 2006

A. Coombs  and
C. K. Thornhill
A. Coombs
Affiliation:
Royal Armament Research and Development Establishment, Fort Halstead, Sevenoaks, Kent
C. K. Thornhill
Affiliation:
Royal Armament Research and Development Establishment, Fort Halstead, Sevenoaks, Kent
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Abstract

A theoretical study is made of a simple design for an underwater shock gun, which consists of a chamber in the form of a hollow circular cone, with a spherical sector of explosive charge fitted into the apex. When the explosive is initiated at the apex, the resulting sector of a spherical blast wave will be diffracted by expansion waves moving inwards after the leading shock has emerged from the rim of the cone.

The progress of the expansion wave-fronts is calculated, and the results show a surprising inability of the diffraction process to ‘eat into’ the full-strength sector of spherical blast. It is found to be possible to design such a gun so that it is capable of projecting a high intensity shock-pressure beam over a considerable range, using only a very small explosive charge.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Fluid Mechanics , Volume 29 , Issue 2 , 11 August 1967 , pp. 373 - 383
Copyright
© 1967 Cambridge University Press

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References

Campbell, R. G. 1958 J. Appl. Phys. 29, 55.
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Courant R. & Friedrichs, K. O. 1948 Supersonic Flow and Shock Waves. New York: Interscience.
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