The understanding and predictive modeling of explosive blasts require
advanced experimental diagnostics that can provide information on
local state variables with high spatiotemporal resolution. Current
datasets are predominantly based on idealized spherically symmetric
explosive charges and point-probe measurements, although practical
charges typically involve multidimensional spatial structures and
complex shock-flow interactions. This work introduces megahertz-rate
background-oriented schlieren tomography to resolve transient,
three-dimensional density fields, as found in an explosive blast,
without symmetry assumptions. A numerical evaluation is used to
quantify the sources of error and optimize the reconstruction
parameters for shock fields. Average errors are
∼
3
%
in the synthetic environment, where
the accuracy is limited by the deflection sensing algorithm. The
approach was experimentally demonstrated on two different commercial
blast charges (Mach
∼
1.2
and
∼
1.7
) with both spherical
and multi-shock structures. Overpressure measurements were conducted
using shock-front tracking to provide a baseline for assessing the
reconstructed densities. The experimental reconstructions of the
primary blast fronts were within 9% of the expected peak values. The
megahertz time resolution and quantitative reconstruction without
symmetry assumptions were accomplished using a single high-speed
camera and light source, enabling the visualization of multi-shock
structures with a relatively simple arrangement. Future
developments in illumination, imaging, and analysis to improve the
accuracy in extreme environments are discussed.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.