Fiber-interferometric detection of gun-launched projectiles

We are developing a new diagnostic useful for the non-invasive detection of projectile passage in the launch tube of a gas gun. The sensing element consists of one or more turns of single-mode optical fiber that is epoxy-bonded around the external circumference of the launch tube. The hoop strain induced in the launch tube by the passage of the projectile causes a momentary expansion of the fiber loop. This transient change in path length is detected with high sensitivity using a fiber optic-based interferometer developed by the NSTec Special Technologies Laboratory. We have fielded this new diagnostic, along with fiber optic Bragg grating (FBG) strain gauges we previously used for this purpose, on a variety of gas guns used for shock compression studies at Los Alamos and Sandia National Laboratories. We anticipate that, when coupled with a broad-range analog demodulator circuit, the fiber optic interferometer will have improved dynamic range over that of the FBG strain gauge approach. Moreover, in contrast to the FBG strain gauge which is somewhat temperature sensitive, the interferometric approach requires no alignment immediately prior to the experiment and is therefore easier to implement. Both approaches provide early, pre-event signals useful for triggering high-latency diagnostics.