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American Scientist
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Feature Articles
Gary S. Settles
Machs motto was seeing is under- Because these tools and the study of speed imaging of shock waves at an
standing. He, Hooke, Toepler and ballistics and explosions are over a cen- unprecedented scale. Coupled with the
other, more recent investigators all tury old, it may be hard to picture what utility of small (gram-range) explosive
understood a principle that unites the could renew interest in them. In addi- charges, which are used for safety and
worlds of technology and art: In order tion to the current need for counter- convenience in research, this technol-
to understand a new or complicated terrorism measures mentioned earlier, ogy opens new vistas in the study of
phenomenon, one needs a physical investigators also now have modern shock waves and explosions.
picture of it early in its study. This electronic high-speed cameras with The contribution of my lab, the
is especially true of flow patterns in which to capture transient explosive Penn State Gas Dynamics Lab, to this
gases and liquids, which are usually events and fast-moving shock waves. topic has been primarily in freeing the
transparent. Without at least a con- Sadly for some of us, the era of pho- shadowgraph and schlieren methods
ceptual picture, working with fluids is tographic film is almost over. Howev- from the benchtop, applying them to
like working with solid objects in the er, with its demise, the rather painful large fields of view without the need
dark. Getting that picture, whether methods of high-speed cinematography for impractically large parabolic tele-
by experiment or computer simula- are being replaced with high-speed vid- scope mirrors, and even taking them
tion, invokes a special branch of the eography, which has an ever-improving outdoors. We have extended these
field of fluid dynamics called flow vi- frame rate and resolution and compara- methods to security applications such
sualization. The schlieren and shadow- tively magnificent user-friendliness, as as aircraft hardening, where they
graph techniques used to image shock well as compact and robust packaging. had never been used before but were
waves are vital tools for visualizing This allows the simpler optical meth- sorely needed. Currently we are ex-
flows that have a different refractive ods, such as shadowgraphy, to break ploring the broad range of scientific
index than the surrounding air, and out of the laboratory and take to the studies that can be done safely and
therefore bend light. field, where one can accomplish high- inexpensively with small, gram-sized
a b
Figure 2. The first photograph of oblique
shock waves from a supersonic bullet was
taken by Ernst Mach and Peter Salcher in
the 1880s (a). The similarity of shock waves
with water waveshere caused by a family
of ducks fleeing an intruder (b)is no coinci-
dence. The same partial differential equation
governs both flow patterns. It is commonly
recognized that such sweptback waves in-
dicate high speed. Images of these types of
shock waves can be made with a retroreflec-
tive shadowgraph set-up. Harold E. Doc
Edgerton, who is famous for his invention
of the electronic flashlamp and his many
high-speed photographs, first developed this
system. The authors group modified the arc-
lamp output so it is focused on a small 45-de-
gree rod mirror centered on the camera lens, to
prevent a double-image effect when the lamp
and camera are on different axes (c). The rod
mirror casts a spot on the retroflective screen,
which returns light to the camera with high
gain. Disturbances in the path of the light
beamhere, a small explosive chargecast
shadows on the screen, which is imaged by
the video camera. (Photograph courtesy Peter
c Krehl, Ernst-Mach-Institut (a), Flight, wa-
tercolor by Connie Barlow, 1980 (b).)
b a
Figure 3. August Toeplers schlieren apparatus used two lenses and a small bright lamp, flashing in the microsecond range, to project an im-
age on a viewing screen (a). Opaque objects placed between the lenses appear in silhouette on the screen. A transparent phenomenon in the
test area, such as a shock wave (S), bends light rays away from their original paths. Two such rays are shown, one bent upward and the other
downward (dotted lines). The upward-deflected ray brightens a point on the screen, but the downward-deflected ray is blocked by a knife-
edge at the focus of the second lens. Its corresponding image point is dark against a gray background. A phenomenon such as a gunshot
between the lenses refracts many such rays in many directions, painting a picture of itself on the screen. A different principle is used to take
schlieren photographs of large-scale phenomena. Instead of lenses, a large retroreflective grid is used as a background in Penn States Full-
Scale Schlieren System (b). A camera lens focuses this source grid on a photographic negative of itselfthe cutoff gridthus blocking light
from the image plane. However, optical distortions in the test area allow some light to get through, forming a schlieren image. In effect, each
bright stripe on the source grid and corresponding dark stripe on the cutoff grid constitutes a Toepler-type schlieren optical system.
phenomena. Theyre also stronger and loud noises, such as those from a can be controlled for medically ben-
more energetic than sound waves, are jet engine in the 110-dB range, are ac- eficial purposes as well: A method
highly nonlinear and cause signifi- tually very weak shock waves. One called shock wave lithotripsy focuses
cant jumps in temperature, pressure can see them using the optical meth- shock-wave energy at a point inside
and density of the air over their wave ods described here, but they travel the body to break up kidney stones
thickness of only nanometers. The pas- barely faster than sound waves, with without significantly damaging the
sage of a strong shock wave through pressure peaks of only some hundred- surrounding tissue.
the human body, for example, causes thousandths of an atmosphere. On Spherical shock waves from explo-
severe damage owing to the large in- the other hand, a strong shock wave sions decrease quickly in strength
stantaneous pressure change. in air, such as one traveling at Mach with distance from the explosion cen-
Normal conversation, with a sound 2, produces an overpressure peak of ter, rapidly leveling out to Mach 1.0,
intensity in the 60- to 70-decibel 4.5 atmospheresmore than enough or the speed of sound. This rate of
(dB) range, involves minuscule air- to destroy the delicate human hearing speed decrease can be extracted from
pressure fluctuations of less than one mechanism and wreak other biologi- a high-speed shadowgraph video.
millionth of an atmosphere. Painfully cal havoc. However, this phenomenon As Harald Kleine of the Australian
Explosions
What causes such a strong shock
wave? Since a stereo system makes
sound waves, can one turn the vol-
ume up to maximum and make shock
waves? No, stereo speakers are only
Figure 7. Shadowgrams of two small explosive charges show the dangers of fragmentation. The charges are 1 gram each of triacetone triper-
oxide (TATP) encased in solid containers. Ignited electrically, they produce spherical shock waves that were captured here by 1-microsecond
exposures when each shock was about 1 meter in diameter. At left, the container fragments into large pieces that are hurled at near the speed
of sound behind the shock wave. In the image at right, the fragments are much smaller and travel at supersonic speeds ahead of the main
shock. In full-scale explosions, fragments like these are as deadly as a hail of bullets.
Figure 9. Schlieren images that show shock wave reflections may help aircraft designers harden planes against explosions. Some recent
tests include a schlieren image of a 60 percent scale-model simulation of a luggage-container bomb that destroyed Pan Am flight 103 in 1988
(left), and a full-size simulationusing real aircraft seats and department-store mannequinsof Ramzi Yousefs 1994 attempt to bring down
a Philippine Airlines flight using a nitroglycerin bomb under a passenger seat (right). In both cases a small acetylene/oxygen gas detonation
produces a fireball and shock wave in Penn States Full-Scale Schlieren System.
A flaw in Edgertons original method The gunshot images my colleagues centimeters, and could thus visualize
is that the camera axis had to be slightly and I have produced were taken with only part of the discharge. My col-
offset from that of the light source. This a massive bullet stop, permission from leagues and I developed a set-up with
creates a confusing double image in the the Penn State campus police and all a field of view of up to several square
resulting video. A beamsplitter could appropriate safety precautions. Previ- meters, which is able to reveal most or
be used to correct this, but with a large ous high-speed shadow and schlieren all of the process.
loss in illumination intensity. Instead, images of gunshots were limited to The evolving flowfield of a gunshot
we affixed a small mirror at a 45-de- small fields of view, typically a few is rather complicated over a period of
gree angle to the center of a filter over
the camera lens and reflected the beam
off of this surface before sending it to
the screen. This arrangement provides
perfect alignment between light source
and camera axes, and there is no notice-
able loss of shadowgram quality as a
result of the small area of camera lens
occluded by the mirror.
Gunshots
All this leads inexorably to the topic
of firearms, which, after centuries of
refinement, now hurl bullets with
high speed and deadly accuracy. Ernst
Mach was cynical about his original
supersonic-bullet research, and ex-
pected to be criticized for its lack of
utility because one cannot wage war
with mere photographed projectiles.
Controversial as the topic is, we can
nevertheless learn from high-speed gun-
shot images and perhaps use that knowl-
edge to save lives and prevent crime.
Forensic investigation of gunpowder
Figure 11. This full-scale schlieren image shows the discharge of a .44 Magnum revolver.
residues, point-blank gunshot wounds, Two spherical shock waves are seen, one centered about the guns muzzle (the muzzle blast)
shooter hearing protection and sniper and a second centered on the cylinder. The supersonic bullet is visible at the far left. This
location are a few topics that can ben- weapon produces a bright muzzle flash and a cloud of products of gunpowder combustion
efit from observing and understanding that envelops the hands of the shooter. Such high-speed images help forensics experts un-
shock waves and related phenomena. derstand the transfer of gunpowder traces to the hands when firing a gun.
several milliseconds. The interior bal- pand tremendously as they transfer If you are unlucky enough to be
listics of firearms cannot be observed from high pressure inside the barrel shot at but lucky enough to be missed,
by the methods described here, so to one atmosphere outside. This rap- sometimes you hear instead the sound
the first visible phenomenon at the id expansion behaves like an explo- of the bullet itself. Inertia keeps super-
muzzle is the emergence of the bul- sion in pushing the air out of the way sonic bullets moving at high speed,
let-driven shock wave, followed im- and thus generating a strong spheri- while the muzzle blast rapidly decays
mediately by the bullet itself. Then cal shock wave, or muzzle blast. The in strength like the spherical shock
the propellant gases, the products of bang of a gunshot is almost always wave from an explosion. So the bul-
gunpowder combustion, exit and ex- caused by this muzzle blast. let inexorably pulls ahead of the de-
caying muzzle blast, trailing oblique
shock waves. These shock waves pro-
duce the sensation of a sharp crack
as the bullet passes, followed later by
the bang of the muzzle blast. This
sequence varies with timing and the
hearers position with respect to the
bullets path, making it very difficult
to determine the direction of gunfire
from its perceived sounds.
The Penn State Full-Scale Schlieren
System is the largest indoor schlieren
system in the world, with a field of
view that is two meters by three me-
ters. Photographs made in this system
show these gunshot phenomena on
a grander scale than was previously
possible. Not only are the exterior bal-
listics of the bullet revealed, but also
the interaction of the muzzle blast
with the shooter. Proper ear protec-
Figure 13. This computer-generated simulation of a schlieren image is derived from a tion is essential to prevent hearing
numerical solution of the equations of motion to mimic the emergence of a supersonic bul- loss. Propellant-gas interactions with
lethere, modeled as a cylinderfrom the muzzle of a gun. High-speed schlieren imagery the hands of the shooter, the gas-dy-
verifies simulations such as these, which in turn have made significant contributions to the namic behavior of various firearms
field of fluid dynamics. (Image courtesy of Zonglin Jiang, Chinese Academy of Sciences.) and many other related phenomena