A New Anthropomorphic Mannequin for Efficacy Evaluation of Thoracic Protective Equipment Against Blast Threats.

Exposure to blast is one of the major causes of death and disability in recent military conflicts. Therefore, it is crucial to evaluate the protective capability of the ballistic-proof equipment worn by soldiers against the effects of blast overpressure (i.e.

High-Velocity Impacts of Pyrophoric Alloy Fragments on Thin Armour Steel Plates.

The terminal ballistics effects of Intermetallic Reactive Materials (IRM) fragments have been the object of intense research in recent years. IRM fragments flying at velocities up to 2000 m/s represent a realistic threat in modern warfare scenarios as these materials are substituting conventional solutions in defense applications. The IRM add Impact Induced Energy Release (IIER) to the mechanical interaction with a target.

Experimental and Numerical Study on a Non-Explosive Reactive Armour with the Rubber Interlayer Applied against Kinetic-Energy Penetrators-The 'Bulging Effect' Analysis.

The study concerns a protection system applied against kinetic-energy penetrators (KEPs) composed of steel plates sandwiching a rubber layer. Laminated steel-elastomer armours represent non-explosive reactive (NERA) armours that take advantage of a so-called 'bulging effect' to mitigate KEP projectiles. Upon an impact, the side steel plates deform together with the deforming rubber interlayer.

Mechanical Properties Analysis of the AA2519-AA1050-Ti6Al4V Explosive Welded Laminate.

Explosively welded layered materials made of (a) an AA2519 aluminum alloy (AlCuMgMn + ZrSc), (b) titanium alloy Ti6Al4V and (c) an intermediate layer composed of a thin aluminum alloyed AA1050 layer are considered herein. This study presents test results connected to measurement science including microstructural observations of the material combined with the explosive method, and a basic analysis of the strength properties based on microhardness and tensile tests. Owing to the joint's special manufacturing conditions, the laminate was subjected to deformation measurements with the digital image correlation (DIC) method.

Development of a French version of the Modified Rhyme Test.

A reproducible method to measure the intelligibility of communication systems is required to assess their efficiency. The current study seeks to develop a French version of the Modified Rhyme Test (MRT) [(House, Williams, Heker, and Kryter (1965). J.

An experimental study of the atmospheric-driven variability of impulse sounds.

Propagating impulse sounds are sensitive to the varying near-surface atmosphere. This study reports on an experimental assessment of this sensitivity under well-controlled outdoor conditions. The experiment, conducted over a flat terrain, features 14 synchronous acoustic sensors at ranges up to 450 m from reproducible, transient sources.

Nanothermite with Meringue-like Morphology: From Loose Powder to Ultra-porous Objects.

The goal of the protocol described in this article is to prepare aluminothermic compositions (nanothermites) in the form of porous, monolithic objects. Nanothermites are combustible materials made up of inorganic fuel and an oxidizer. In nanothermite foams, aluminum is the fuel and aluminum phosphate and tungsten trioxide are the oxidizing moieties.

High-resolution Raman Spectroscopy for the Nanostructural Characterization of Explosive Nanodiamond Precursors.

The specific attributes of nanodiamonds have attracted increasing interest for electronics or biomedical applications. An efficient synthetic route towards nanodiamonds is via detonation of hexolite (i.e.

Cross-frequency coherence and pulse propagation in a turbulent atmosphere.

Cross-frequency coherence of acoustic signals in a turbulent atmosphere is an important consideration for source localization with acoustic sensor arrays and for remote sensing of the atmosphere with sodars and tomography techniques. This paper takes as a starting point recently derived, closed-form equations for the spatial-temporal correlation function of a broadband acoustic signal propagating in a turbulent atmosphere with coupled spatial-temporal fluctuations in temperature and wind velocity. This theory is employed to calculate, based on the Rytov approximation, the two-point, two-time, two-frequency mutual coherence function of plane and spherical waves in the weak scattering regime.

Nanodiamond for tuning the properties of energetic composites.

Bismuth oxide (Bi2O3) particles were coated by detonation nanodiamonds. The resulting nanocomposite materials were mixed with an aluminum nanopowder (≈ 100 nm) to prepare nanothermites, with reduced sensitivity to friction and electrostatic discharge (ESD). The use of nanodiamond for this purpose is reported here for the first time.

Magnetometer-augmented IMU simulator: in-depth elaboration.

The location of objects is a growing research topic due, for instance, to the expansion of civil drones or intelligent vehicles. This expansion was made possible through the development of microelectromechanical systems (MEMS), inexpensive and miniaturized inertial sensors. In this context, this article describes the development of a new simulator which generates sensor measurements, giving a specific input trajectory.

Impact of hearing protection devices on sound localization performance.

Hearing Protection Devices (HPDs) can protect the ear against loud potentially damaging sounds while allowing lower-level sounds such as speech to be perceived. However, the impact of these devices on the ability to localize sound sources is not well known. To address this question, we propose two different methods: one behavioral and one dealing with acoustical measurements.

Long-term, global-scale statistics of sound propagation.

The near-surface sound levels emitted due to a point source show a large variability caused by sound propagation through changing meteorological conditions. To assess this variability, this study uses a numerical model of sound propagation which accounts for ground reflection, atmospheric refraction, and turbulence effects. The atmospheric inputs to the model-including turbulence-are calculated from Numerical Weather Prediction data.

Pulsed magnetic field measurement system based on colossal magnetoresistance-B-scalar sensors for railgun investigation.

A high pulsed magnetic field measurement system based on the use of CMR-B-scalar sensors was developed for the investigations of the electrodynamic processes in electromagnetic launchers. The system consists of four independent modules (channels) which are controlled by a personal computer. Each channel is equipped with a CMR-B-scalar sensor connected to the measurement device-B-scalar meter.

Unidirectional fiber optic sensor for angular acceleration measurement.

A concept of a fiber optic sensor consisting of a light source, a fiber coil, and a two-beam interferometer measuring angular acceleration is described. The principle differs essentially from common fiber optic gyroscopes (FOGs) still exploiting the Sagnac effect but sending light of the monochromatic source only unidirectionally into the fiber coil. A change in the optical path length in the fiber coil due to the Sagnac effect maintains proportionality to angular acceleration and could be detected by means of a subsequent two-beam interferometer.

Size and shape effects on the nonlinear optical behavior of silver nanoparticles for power limiters.

The optical limiting behavior of silver nanoparticles with different sizes and shapes is investigated and compared to the optical limiting performance of conventional carbon black suspension (CBS). The optical limiting behavior is characterized by means of nonlinear transmittance and scattered intensity measurements when submitted to nanosecond pulsed Nd:YAG lasers operating at the fundamental or the second harmonic wavelength. We found that the optical limiting effect is strongly particle size dependent and the best performance is achieved with the smaller particles.

High-efficiency 1.9 µm Tm3+:LiLuF4 thin-disk laser.

We present the first demonstration of a 792 nm diode-pumped Tm3+:LiLuF4 thin-disk laser operation around 1.9 μm. In multimode configuration, up to 21 W of output power and a maximal slope efficiency of 49% with an optical-to-optical efficiency of 40% was demonstrated.

Tunable Mid-infrared ZnGeP2 RISTRA OPO pumped by periodically-poled Rb:KTP optical parametric master-oscillator power amplifier.

A laser-diode pumped Q-switched single-frequency Nd:YAG MOPA operating at 100 Hz was used to generate tunable mid-infrared radiation between 6.27 µm and 8.12 µm by employing a cascaded parametric arrangement consisting of degenerate parametric master-oscillator power amplifier using a large aperture periodically-poled Rb:KTiOPO4 which in turn pumped a ZnGeP2 (ZGP) nonplanar RISTRA OPO.

Actively Q-switched and mode-locked Tm3+-doped silicate 2 μm fiber laser for supercontinuum generation in fluoride fiber.

A diode-pumped actively Q-switched and actively mode-locked Tm3+-doped double-clad silicate fiber laser is reported providing up to 5 W of average output power at ~60 kHz Q-switch envelope repetition rate and ~8 μJ subpulses with up to 2.4 kW peak power. Using this source as a pump laser for supercontinuum generation in a ZBLAN fiber, over 1080 mW of supercontinuum from 1.

High-power actively mode-locked sub-nanosecond Tm³⁺-doped silica fiber laser.

A diode-pumped actively mode-locked Tm³⁺-doped double-clad silica fiber laser providing up to 11.8 W of average output power and pulse widths in mode-locked operation of 38 ps at a repetition rate of 37.88 MHz is reported.

High-efficiency multi-kilowatt Er3+:YAG solid-state heat-capacity laser.

First results on a diode-pumped multikilowatt-class Er(3+):YAG solid-state heat-capacity laser (SSHCL) are reported. The laser achieves an output power of 4650 W and output energies in excess of 440 J. A moderate crystal temperature increase due to crystal heating of 56.

High-energy, in-band pumped Q-switched Ho(3+):LuLiF(4) 2 microm laser.

A Q-switched Tm:fiber-laser-pumped Ho:LuLiF(4) laser is reported that has been optimized for high-energy pulses at low repetition rates. Operating at 100Hz, a pulse energy of 24.8mJ with pulse widths of 47ns at a wavelength of 2052nm was achieved.

High-efficiency 20-50 kHz mid-infrared orientation-patterned GaAs optical parametric oscillator pumped by a 2 microm holmium laser.

We report on what are, to our knowledge, the best results obtained with an orientation-patterned GaAs optical parametric oscillator (OPO) pumped by a Q-switched 2 microm Ho:YAG laser. Up to 2.85 W are obtained for 6.

Preparation of explosive nanoparticles in a porous chromium(III) oxide matrix: a first attempt to control the reactivity of explosives.

This paper reports the first attempt to control the combustion and the detonation properties of a high explosive through its structure. A porous chromium(III) oxide matrix produced by the combustion of ammonium dichromate was infiltrated by hexahydro-1,3,5-trinitro-1,3,5-triazine (RDX). The structure of the Cr(2)O(3) matrix was studied by both scanning and transmission electron microscopy (SEM, TEM); the Cr(2)O(3)/RDX nanocomposites were characterized by nitrogen adsorption.

Transient wavelength performance of 1.53 microm InP laser diodes for pumping of Er3+-doped solid-state lasers.

The transient wavelength performance of high-power InP laser diode stacks with internal Bragg gratings is studied experimentally. Because of the wavelength selective nature of the internal grating, which is decoupled from the actual gain profile dynamics of the laser diode, the wavelength drift with respect to temperature and current is greatly reduced and steady-state conditions are reached after a short settling time of less than 50 ms.