Note: A technique to capture and compose streak images of explosive events with unpredictable timing

The authors describe a method to capture optical data and construct digitized streak images for analysis of high-speed phenomena with unpredictable timing by using a high-speed video camera and software routines. Advances in high-speed video camera technology have led to development of cameras with frame rates (1 x 10(6) frames per second) and spatial resolution (1280 x 800 pixels) suitable to capture fast phenomena, such as detonation in high explosives (< or = 10 km s(-1)), on small enough scales to be convenient for laboratory experiments. Further, relatively long-duration recordings (> or = 1 s) are maintained in a rolling buffer in volatile memory allowing the entire frame sequence to be recorded pretrigger, thus obviating the need for precisely located diagnostic triggers. The method described was used to capture the progression of luminous reaction during the deflagration-to-detonation transition of the HMX-based (octahydro-1, 3, 5, 7-tetranitro-1, 3, 5, 7-tetrazocine) plastic bonded explosive (PBX) formulation during cookoff.