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Updated: Sep 29, 2026

Evaluating Primary Blast Effects In Vitro
Published on: September 18, 2017
Experimental investigation of the three-dimensional interaction of a strong shock with a spherical density
H F Robey1, T S Perry, R I Klein
1Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, University of California, Livermore, California 94550, USA.
Abstract:
Laser-driven experiments are described which probe the interaction of a very strong shock with a spherical density inhomogeneity. The interaction is viewed from two orthogonal directions enabling visualization of both the initial distortion of the sphere into a double vortex ring structure as well as the onset of an azimuthal instability that ultimately results in the three-dimensional breakup of the ring. The experimental results are compared with 3D numerical simulations and are shown to be in remarkable agreement with the incompressible theory of Widnall et al. [J. Fluid Mech. 66, 35 (1974)].
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