The development of laser ignited deflagration-to-detonation transition (DDT) detonators and pyrotechnic actuators
- Resource Type
- Conference
- Authors
- Source
- Conference: 1994 joint USA-Russia energetic material technology symposium,Livermore, CA (United States),18-25 May 1994; Other Information: PBD: [1994]
- Subject
- 45 MILITARY TECHNOLOGY, WEAPONRY, AND NATIONAL DEFENSE DETONATORS
SEMICONDUCTOR LASERS
CHEMICAL EXPLOSIVES
IGNITION
NUCLEAR WEAPONS
ACTUATORS
TESTING 450200
NUCLEAR EXPLOSIONS AND EXPLOSIVES
CHEMICAL EXPLOSIONS AND EXPLOSIVES
- Language
- English
- ISSN
- 94011427
The use of laser ignited explosive components has been recognized as a safety enhancement over existing electrical explosive devices (EEDs). Sandia has been pursuing the development of optical ordnance for many years with recent emphasis on developing optical deflagration-to-detonation (DDT) detonators and pyrotechnic actuators. These low energy optical ordnance devices can be ignited with either a semiconductor diode laser, laser diode arrays or a solid state rod laser. By using a semiconductor laser diode, the safety improvement can be made without sacrificing performance since the input energy required for the laser diode and the explosive output are similar to existing electrical systems. The use of higher powered laser diode arrays or rod lasers may have advantages in fast DDT applications or lossy optical environments such as long fiber applications and applications with numerous optical connectors. Recent results from our continued study of optical ignition of explosive and pyrotechnic materials are presented. These areas of investigation can be separated into three different margin categories: (1) the margin relative to intended inputs ( i.e. powder performance as a function of laser input variation), (2) the margin relative to anticipated environments (i.e. powder performance as a function of thermal environment variation), and (3) the margin relative to unintended environments (i.e. responses to abnormal environments or safety).