Exploration of a Design Concept for Cylindrical Shaped Charges

Abstract

For essentially all the long history of shaped-charge development, the utility of a shaped charge has been measured by its depth of penetration. This metric stems both from the historic targets of interest and the traditional output characteristic of a conical shaped charge, which produces a stretching jet with penetration depth proportional to jet length. The stretching jet eventually particulates which limits the effective standoff distance of the charge. A cylindrical liner configuration to produce a steady-state, coherent, non-stretching jet is analyzed and discussed here. Advantages from a cylindrical configuration are that (1) jet speed is twice the effective detonation speed, (2) penetration is relatively insensitive to standoff, and (3) jet length and diameter are independent design parameters. Jet length is a function of charge length and can be increased with a linear increase in both charge length and mass. Simulation of a jetting 60 mm diameter copper liner suggests a stable jet is achievable.