Evolution of Shock Waves in Silicon Carbide Rods

Evolution of shock waves in self‐bonded silicon carbide bars in the shape of 20 mm × 20 mm square prisms of varying lengths (20 mm, 40 mm, and 77.5 mm) is investigated. The density and porosity of the test specimens were 3.08 g/cm3 and 2%, respectively. Shock waves were generated by detonating a cylindrical shaped (d=40 mm and 1=40 mm) stabilized RDX high explosive charge of density 1.60 g/cm3. Embedded manganin gauges at various distances from the impact face were used to monitor the amplitude of shock pressure profiles. Propagation velocity of the stress pulse was observed to be equal to the elastic bar wave velocity of 11 km/s and was independent of the amplitude of the impact pulse. Strong fuzziness of the stress wave front is observed. This observation conforms to the theory on the instability of the shock formation in a finite size elastic body. This phenomenon of wave front fuzziness may be useful for desensitization of heterogeneous high explosives.