Commercial carbon composition resistors as dynamic stress gauges in difficult environments

Abstract

Commercial carbon composition resistors have been used as gauges to make dynamic stress measurements in homogeneous and heterogeneous reactive and inert materials. Initial loading was provided by plane wave lenses or shaped charge jets. A series of gas gun and aquarium experiments has been conducted to characterize the behavior of the gauges. Calibrations up to about 14 GPa for nominal 470 Ω resistors and 17 GPa for nominal 4700 Ω resistors are presented. The accuracy of the carbon resistor gauges is limited by response time considerations when submicrosecond rise times are encountered, and there is hysteresis during release. The gauge-to-gauge reproducibility appears to be adequate, and they survive in situations where no other stress transducer has been successfully used, such as in reacting beds of large-particle gun propellants.