HYPERVELOCITY IMPACT INITIATION: CHALLENGING V2D

Shaped charge jet impact initiation tests on the TDW “standard charge” were conducted using different shaped charges ranging from 44 mm to 200 mm in caliber. These results were in clear contradiction to the widely accepted “v²d rule” which assumes that the critical stimulus S = v²d to initiate an ammunition is a constant – independent from the shaped charge caliber. The extended evaluation of the experimental results exhibited a strong relationship between jet diameter and stimulus for a higher order reaction. Including further results from projectile impact tests still shows a consistent picture. However, for the development of a new “unified” initiation model, the transition from shaped charge jet impact initiation phenomenology to projectile impact initiation phenomenology must first be investigated experimentally.