High frame-rate imaging is a valuable tool for non-destructive evaluation (NDE) as well as for ballistic impact studies (terminal ballistics), in-flight projectile imaging, studies of exploding ordnance and characterization of other high-speed phenomena. Current imaging systems exist for these studies, however, none have the ability to do in-barrel characterization (in-bore ballistics) to image kinetics of the moving projectile BEFORE it exits the barrel.
The system uses an intensified high-speed CMOS camera coupled to a specially designed scintillator to serve as the X-ray detector. The X-ray source is a sequentially fired portable pulsed unit synchronized with the detector integration window and is able to acquire 3,600 frames per second (fps) with mega-pixel spatial resolution and up to 500,000 fps with reduced pixel resolution. This paper will discuss our results imaging .30 caliber bullets traveling at ~1,000 m/s while still in the barrel. Information on bullet deformation, pitch, yaw and integrity are the main goals of this experimentation. Planned future upgrades for imaging large caliber projectiles will also be discussed.
A linear CdZnTe pad detector array with approximately 1 mm2 pad area has been developed. The detector has a wide energy range from about 20 to 200 keV. To read out these detector arrays, a fast, low-noise monolithic mixed signal ASIC chip has been developed. A prototype x-ray imaging system consisting of the CdZnTe detector array and the monolithic ASIC chip has been fabricated and tested. In this system, the detectors are abutted against each other to form an approximately 1 m long linear array. The system has been used to take preliminary scanned images of complex objects at various energies. New results from this system will be presented.
Access to the requested content is limited to institutions that have purchased or subscribe to SPIE eBooks.
You are receiving this notice because your organization may not have SPIE eBooks access.*
*Shibboleth/Open Athens users─please
sign in
to access your institution's subscriptions.
To obtain this item, you may purchase the complete book in print or electronic format on
SPIE.org.
INSTITUTIONAL Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.
PERSONAL Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.