Instrumentation of high-acceleration structures being tested in long duration shock facilities such as air guns and light gas guns always has been extremely difficult because of the great distances the test item must move during the test. A short-duration, high-accelerationno shock tester is under development, and the test item motions of less than six inches will permit hard-wire instrumentation for monitoring stresses, strains and component performance during and after the loading period. However, concerns have been expressed that one short duration pulse does not simulate the gun launching profile (thereby producing a different structural response or amplification factor), and that there may not be enough kinetic energy in the short duration test to produce large strain failures when yield strengths have been exceeded. Tests of high-acceleration instrumented structures are being performed with the short duration shock tester and with guns under conditions that more nearly simulate launching profiles. Testing and analysis procedures also are being developed for future employment of the short duration tester in developing kinetic energy structures.
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