Toward Improvements in Pressure Measurements for Near Free-Field Blast Experiments

Sensors (Basel). 2023 Jun 16;23(12):5635. doi: 10.3390/s23125635.

Abstract

This paper proposes two ways to improve pressure measurement in air-blast experimentations, mostly for close-in detonations defined by a small-scaled distance below 0.4 m.kg-1/3. Firstly, a new kind of custom-made pressure probe sensor is presented. The transducer is a piezoelectric commercial, but the tip material has been modified. The dynamic response of this prototype is established in terms of time and frequency responses, both in a laboratory environment, on a shock tube, and in free-field experiments. The experimental results show that the modified probe can meet the measurement requirements of high-frequency pressure signals. Secondly, this paper presents the initial results of a deconvolution method, using the pencil probe transfer function determination with a shock tube. We demonstrate the method on experimental results and draw conclusions and prospects.

Keywords: blast experiment; close-in detonation; deconvolution; dynamic calibration; metrology; near-field experimentation; pressure sensors; shock tube; transfer function.

MeSH terms

  • Explosions*
  • Laboratories*
  • Pressure
  • Research Design
  • Transducers

Grants and funding

This research was funded by CEA and the French Region Occitanie. The work was carried out in partnership between CEA Gramat and the Laboratory of Analysis and Architecture of Systems (LAAS-CNRS Toulouse) within the framework of the Corresponding Research Laboratory on instrumentation and ultra-fast sensors (LRC—LICUR).