Shock waves in aviation security and safety

Accident investigations such as of Pan Am 103 and TWA 800 reveal the key role of shock-wave propagation in destroying the aircraft when an on-board explosion occurs. This paper surveys shock wave propagation inside an aircraft fuselage, caused either by a terrorist device or by accident, and provides some new experimental results. While aircraft-hardening research has been under way for more than a decade, no such experiments to date have used the crucial tool of high-speed optical imaging to visualize shock motion. Here, Penn State's Full-Scale Schlieren flow visualization facility yields the first shock-motion images in aviation security scenarios: 1) Explosions beneath full-size aircraft seats occupied by mannequins, 2) Explosions inside partially-filled luggage containers, and 3) Luggage-container explosions resulting in hull-holing. Both single-frame images and drum-camera movies are obtained. The implications of these results are discussed, though the overall topic must still be considered in its infancy. Received 22 July 2001 / Accepted 19 July 2002 Published online 4 November 2002 Correspondence to: G.S. Settles (e-mail: gss2@psu.edu) An abridged version of this paper was presented at the 23rd International Symposium on Shock Waves at Fort Worth, Texas, from July 22 to 27, 2001.