Hypersonic impact flash characteristics of a long-rod projectile collision with a thin plate target

Impact flash occurs when objects collide at supersonic speeds and can be used for real-time damage assessment when weapons rely on kinetic energy to destroy targets.However,the mechanism of impact flash remains unclear.A series of impact flash experiments of flat-head long-rod projectiles impacting thin target plates were performed with a two-stage light gas gun.The impact flash spectra for 6061 aluminum at 1.3-3.2 km/s collision speeds were recorded with a high-speed camera,a photoelectric sensor,and a time-resolved spectrometer.The intensity of the impact flash exhibited a pulse charac-teristic with time.The intensity(I)increased with impact velocity(V0)according to I∝Vn0,where n = 4.41 for V0 ＞ 2 km/s.However,for V0 ＜ 2 km/s,n = 2.21,and the intense flash duration is an order of magnitude less than that of higher V0.When V0 ＞ 2 km/s,a continuous spectrum(thermal radiation background)was observed and increased in intensity with V0.However,for V0 ＜ 2 km/s,only atomic line spectra were detected.There was no aluminum spectral lines for V0 ＜ 2 km/s,which indicated that it had not been vaporized.The initial intense flash was emission from excited and ionized ambient gases near the impact surface,and had little relationship with shock temperature rise,indicating a new mechanism of impact flash.