Visible and near-IR measurements from two types of explosive units were conducted in support of an explosives characterization project. Cardboard tubes packed with Composition C-4 ranging from 0.5 to 136.2 kg and a novel argon flash hemisphere were detonated and emissions in eight bands covering the wavelength range from 325 nm to 1200 nm were measured with fast response photodiodes. Spectral and total intensity were measured in each band; additionally, radial measurements of each unit were also conducted to characterize spatial optical output. Composition C-4 charges indicated a linear relationship between peak intensity and total explosive weight. Argon flash hemispheres created a symmetric 2πsr optical source with a broadband temperature between 15,000 and 20,000 K. The influence of charge geometry on optical output is discussed. Sandia National Laboratories is a multimission laboratory managed and operated by National Technology and Engineering Solutions of Sandia LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Honeywell International Inc. for the U.S. Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration under contract DE-NA0003525.
argon flash, radiometry