High strain rate fragmentation of liquid systems at atmospheric pressure

The fragmentation characteristics of liquid systems at atmospheric pressure has been investigated experimentally and compared to hydrodynamic calculations as well as theoretical predictions. The geometry is a one-dimensional (1-D) nylon flat plate impacting a flat plate liquid system at velocities of approximately 0.3 km/s. The experiments were conducted at the Marquette University's gas gun facility. Hydrocodes calculations were used to investigate early time shock evolution, material deformation and strain rate. High-speed photography and witness cards were used to capture the impact and fragmentation event as well as drop distributions. The experimental drop distributions are compared to distributions obtained from a Grady–Kipp (GK) fragmentation model. The liquid spall GK fragmentation model predicted the correct median drop size while the flow stress spall over predicted the median drop size. The standard GK Poisson drop distribution superimposed over the median drop size produces a distribution which is wider than the data obtained.