Expansion of cylindrical shells subjected to internal explosive detonations

Two explosively loaded cylindrical shell experiments were conducted to provide experimental data for benchmarking numerical codes. Each shell was subjected to internal high-explosive detonations, which caused it to expand outwardly at strain rates on the order of 10⁴ s^–1. At approximately 150 percent strain, multiple plastic instabilities appeared on the surface of these shells in a quasi-periodic pattem. These instabilities continued to develop into bands of localized shear and eventually formed cracks before causing the shell to fragment. Diagnostic equipment on these experiments included a Fabry-Perot interferometer and a fast-framing camera. The experiments and the data obtained from the diagnostic equipment are discussed and illustrated.