Density reconstruction of interacting conical and detonator shocks using quantitative schlieren

Quantitative schlieren is a non-intrusive optical method which can be used to measure the refractive index fields which can be related to gas density via the Gladestone-Dale relationship. Quantitative schlieren was previously used to measure the air density around an axisymmetric supersonic conical projectile. Here the methods are extended to measure the density field around the axisymmetric supersonic projectile passing through an explosively driven shock wave. Ultra-high-speed imaging is utilized to capture time-resolved images of the projectile interacting with the explosively driven shock wave. Flow features of the intersecting shocks including the conical shock, detonation shock, and reflection waves are analyzed and compared to analytical and computational models. Methods for three-dimensional reconstruction are discussed along with the limitations of the axisymmetric assumptions.