The EMI ruby laser stroboscope and its application in terminal ballistics

This paper describes the EMI ruby laser stroboscope and two examples of its application, the study of behind armor effects of a KE-projectile and the initiation of HE(high explosive) by a hypervelocity debris cloud. The flash X-ray technique is the common method to visualize terminal ballistic and impact phenomena which are mainly combined with light flashes, dust and fragment clouds. The laser stroboscope is an useful completion to the other techniques, it allows the visualization of long duration (1ms) events with high-time resolution and high accuracy. At a frequency of 200 kHz, for example, about 260 frames are taken with the camera at exposure times less than 20 ns.