Abstract

Gun blast data from a large variety of weapons are scaled and presented for both the instantaneous energy release and the constant energy deposition rate models. For both ideal explosion models, similar amounts of data scatter occur for the peak overpressure but the instantaneous energy release model correlated the impulse data significantly better, particularly for the region in front of the gun. Two parameters that characterize gun blast are used in conjunction with the ideal scaling models to improve the data correlation. The gun-emptying parameter works particularly well with the instantaneous energy release model to improve data correlation. In particular, the impulse, especially in the forward direction of the gun, is correlated significantly better using the instantaneous energy release model coupled with the use of the gun-emptying parameter. The use of the Mach disc location parameter improves the correlation only marginally. A predictive model is obtained from the modified instantaneous energy release correlation.