Mechanisms and Parameters of Abrasive Waterjet (AWJ) Cutting of High-Explosive Projectiles

摘要

Alliant Techsystems has researched sectioning high-explosive projectiles with abrasive waterjets (AWJ) and has examined the physical mechanisms of the process. In addition to performing parametric studies of waterjets, Alliant Techsystems has cut over 170,000 high-explosive projectiles under controlled conditions to evaluate the safety of the waterjet cutting process. Here, the various parameters that affect the safety and performance of the abrasive waterjet cutting process are described and the relative merits of the different options are compared. Specifically, the safety-critical parameters are the diameter of the jet stream and the velocity of the water. With these safety critical parameters, the likelihood of an initiation can be predicted for a given explosive using existing projectile impact models developed by various laboratories.