Measuring Temperature in Explosive Environments
This course is offered in parallel with others on Wednesday June 21st, from 2:15PM to 5PM. The
course fee is to cover mid-afternoon snack and beverage.
Course Description:
This course will cover traditional and modern approaches to measuring temperature in the
extreme conditions associated with high explosive detonation product environments. Four
general topical areas will be covered: i) physical probes including armored thermocouples using
advanced techniques to reconstruct temperature on time scales below the thermocouple
temporal response time, ii) optical pyrometry using multichannel approaches from both
discrete and imaging sensors, color camera/filter-based techniques, and emissivity, optical
depth, and line-of-sight issues, iii) optical emission spectroscopy using naturally occurring
intermediates such as AlO, CN, and OH, impurities such as calcium and iron, and added
dopants, and iv) tunable laser approaches with armored probed using water vapor or similar
species to obtain local, time-resolved temperatures within the fireball. The course will focus
more on practical aspects of making these measurements and on issues associated with
interpretation and uncertainty, rather than a simple demonstration.
Students will be given a workbook for the course that includes the lecture notes as well as a
library of reference materials and key papers associated with each diagnostic.
Course Fee: $15
Audience:
This course is aimed at students who are interested in diagnostics of explosive system and/or
who would like to learn more about the practical aspects and limitations of making
temperature measurements in these extreme conditions.
Course Instructors
Nick Glumac
Shao Lee Soo Professor,
University of Illinois
Dr. Michael J. Soo
Naval Surface Warfare Center
Indian Head, Maryland