A comparative analysis of multiplexed PDV systems for gun based dynamic materials testing

A gas gun impact experiment series was conducted at the Los Alamos National Laboratory Dynamic Equation Of State (LANL DEOS) facility to compare the effective performance of two multiplexed Photon Doppler Velocimetry (mPDV) systems to a baseline non-multiplexed system. Two experiments were conducted, a transmission experiment with aluminum impactor and cerium target, and a front face impact experiment with a cerium impactor onto a LiF window. The resulting shock waves and release were measured with 24 points of PDV recorded by three PDV systems: 8 points of single point PDV, 8 points of a 4-deep mPDV system, and 8 points of a 4th Generation 8-deep mPDV system. The goal of the experiment was to evaluate the relative performance of the systems on a single well understood experiment with a challenging surface velocity profile. Performance was found to be well aligned across all tested systems, with comparably strong signal to noise found on all fielded systems. The results and process workflow for analysis were also compared between different PDV analysis suites including SIRHEN and a LANL code.