Method of using thin metallic foils to minimize thermal transients and photoelectric effects in pressure measurements

This paper discusses the development of a method to reduce the transient effects on piezoelectric pressure transducers used in the measurement of blast overpressure produced by non-conventional explosives. This method was developed during testing of high-energy and non-conventional explosives at the Aviation and Missile Research, Development and Engineering Center (AMRDEC) on the Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Alabama. There are two major contributors that negatively affect the quality of data gathered in the measurement of blast overpressures using piezoelectric pressure transducers. These undesirable effects are thermal and photoelectric transients generated in the explosive blast. These transients were found to obscure the data generated by causing a non-positive amplitude shift in the pressure-time curves when trying to measure the performance of non-conventional explosives. This paper explores the phenomenon in detail, utilizing graphical data derived from laboratory experiments to explain the problem and to illustrate how the use of this method may improve blast measurements.