Explosive Induced Shock Attenuation in Teflon— An Experimental Investigation

Abstract

Shockwave attenuation characteristics of polymeric materials are important to be known for designing waveshapers. Waveshaper in shaped charge enhances its penetration performance by suitably altering the detonation wave interaction with liner surface. An optimized wave shaper geometry with appropriate material results in low warhead weight and less space requirement with enhanced penetration capabilities as compared to point initiated charge. The geometry of wave shaper is dependent on shock behavior of its material under explosive loading. Optimized configuration of wave shaper can be arrived at by knowing the shock characteristics of its material when it is loaded with same composition and quantity of explosive as in the warhead configuration. Teflon is one of the candidate materials for wave shaper due to its advantages of low density, machinability, dimensional accuracy, faster shock attenuation, availability etc. This paper discusses experimental and numerical simulation approach to determine shock behavior of Teflon material under explosive loading. Shock attenuation properties obtained from experiments can be used for design of a wave shaper for shaped charge application.