Author(s)

D. R. Scheffler & W. P. Walters

Abstract

A technique is presented to increase the tip velocity of a conventional shaped charge (SC) device by employing an air cavity wave shaper which overlaps the liner. Thus, the device is a combination of an SC and an air cavity charge. Two-dimensional, axisymmetric CTH simulations were used to design the warhead. CTH is a family of computer programs developed at Sandia National Laboratories for modeling solid dynamics problems involving shock-wave propagation, multiple materials, and large deformations in one, two, or three dimensions. The baseline case was a standard 7.5-cm-diameter liner. The liner is basically a 42° copper, conical liner with a tip velocity of 8 km/s. The air cavity, which overlaps the liner, increases the tip velocity of the coherent portion of the liner to about 10 km/s, with hypervelocity jet particles traveling in front of the tip with a velocity of about 14 km/s. Keywords: shaped charge jet, wave shaper, numerical simulation, hydrocode, explosive, cavity. 1 Introduction Currently used shaped charge (SC) designs (i.e., in weapon systems, oil-well completion, or drilling operations) may be designed to provide a deep hole in a target material and maximize crater volume. Increasing the tip velocity of the jet increases the depth of penetration into many targets, including most metals and geological materials. The depth of penetration is critical for most military targets and for releasing the flow of gas or oil in the oil-well completion problem. SC performance, i.e., depth of penetration, may also be improved by using a wave shaper. A wave shaper is a device that can contour or shape the detonation

Keywords

shaped charge jet, wave shaper, numerical simulation, hydrocode, explosive, cavity.