Session H3: Velocimetry III: Spatially Resolved Methods & Fiber Bragg Grating

Fiber-interferometric detection of gun-launched projectiles

We are developing a new diagnostic useful for the non-invasive detection of projectile passage in the launch tube of a gas gun. The sensing element consists of a fiber-loop that is epoxy-bonded around the external circumference of launch tube. The hoop strain induced in the launch tube by the passage of the projectile causes a momentary expansion of the fiber loop. This transient change in path length is detected with high sensitivity using a fiber-optic based interferometer developed by the NSTec Special Technologies Laboratory. We have fielded this new diagnostic, along with fiber-Bragg grating (FBG) strain gauges we previously used for this purpose, on a variety of light gas guns used for shock compression studies at Los Alamos. Our preliminary results show that the fiber interferometer has improved sensitivity and dynamic range compared that of the FBG strain gauge approach. Moreover, the interferometric approach requires no hands-on alignment immediately prior to the experiment and is therefore easier to implement. Both approaches provide early, pre-event signals useful for triggering high-latency diagnostics.   

Simultaneous Photonic Doppler Velocimetry and Dual Axis Framing Technique

Flyer plates, accelerated by the electrical explosion of a metallic bridge, have historically primarily been characterised using velocity interferometery methods such as VISAR and Photonic Doppler Velocimetry (PDV). With the advent of high-fidelity three-dimensional magnetohydronamical codes such as ALEGRA and ALE-MHD, there is a requirement for the characterisation of spatially-resolved phenomena such as bridge burst, flyer formation and flyer break-up. Multiple high-speed cameras were integrated with PDV, to provide both flyer plate velocity and othogonal views of the flyer plate. Optically-upshifted PDV was used, and flyer plate velocities in excess of 4 km.s-1 were measured. Laser illumination enabled imaging with exposures as short as 5 ns to be obtained, effectively freezing the motion of the flyer plate. The experimental technique is described, and example data obtained is presented.   

Limits of Line VISAR data interpretation with large spatial velocity variations

Line-imaging velocimetry provides information on position dependence of velocity histories, and in turn on grain anisotropies, texture, variability, and nonplanar material motion. In recent experiments on copper bicrystals, strong position dependence of motion created complicated fringe patterns not amenable to conventional analysis methods (mock quadrature or FFT). The data were initially interpreted by hand. Subsequently, a Matlab-based program was prepared to reduce such records by a fringe-trace method, as well as to extract precise wave-transit time information. Limits and capabilities of such analyses will be discussed and set in the context of other methods, using experimental and synthetic data. Sandia National Laboratories is a multi-program laboratory managed and operated by Sandia Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of Lockheed Martin Corporation, for the U.S. Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration under contract DE-AC04-94AL85000.   

Speckle-adaptive VISAR fringe analysis technique

A line-VISAR (velocity interferometer) is an important diagnostic in shock physics, simultaneously measuring many fringe histories of adjacent portions of a target splayed along a line on a target, with fringes recorded vs time and space by a streak camera. Due to laser illumination speckle (spatial intensity variation), target surface unevenness, or rapid spatial variation of target physics, conventional fringe analysis algorithms which do not properly model these variations can suffer from inferred velocity (fringe phase) errors. A speckle-adaptive algorithm has been developed which senses the interferometer and illumination parameters for each individual row (spatial position Y) of the 2d interferogram, so that the interferogram can be compensated for Y-dependent nonfringing intensity, fringe visibility, and nonlinear phase distribution. In numerical simulations and on actual data we have found this individual row-by-row modeling improves the accuracy of the result, compared to a conventional column-by-column analysis approach.   

Optically Recording Velocity Interferometer System: Applications and Challenges

The Optically Recording Velocity Interferometer System (ORVIS) is a useful variant of the single point Velocity Interferometer System Any Reflector (VISAR) for the measurement of spatially dependent surface motion. Despite being similar in name, the two systems fundamentally differ in terms of the light recombination afforded by the interferometer geometry and subsequent recording method of the fringe phase variations. While both techniques have long been established as useful measurement technologies in shock physics studies of homogeneous and heterogeneous materials, the number of researchers employing spatially resolved ORVIS remains small. The first part of this presentation will discuss the baseline system including data examples only possible with the diagnostic's ability for continuous spatial recording. Recent adaptations of the baseline system have extended capabilities to incorporate multiple interferometers and laser illumination sources for observations in multiple spatial dimensions and non-planar geometries. The second part of this presentation will discuss efforts to overcome noted practical challenges when fielding the diagnostic and post-processing of image data. Application to non-planar geometries and highly heterogeneous materials motivates an appreciation of the coupling between the target surface reflectance properties and the light collection optics which can be quantitatively assessed through the bidirectional reflectance distribution function (BRDF) of the reflector. Challenges of practically locating fringe jumps in post-processing are discussed in the context of appreciating the underlying quadrature relationships of the fringe records. Sandia National Laboratories is a multi-program laboratory managed and operated by Sandia Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of Lockheed Martin Corporation, for the U.S. Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration under contract DE-AC04-94AL85000.