X-Ray and Visible Imaging of Dynamic Agent Defeat Sprays

There is a need to improve the understanding of physical and chemical processes involved in the evolution of chemical warfare agent (CWA) simulant aerosols and vapors that interact with combustion, deflagration, and detonation products. However, measuring aerosols and vapors is very challenging because of limited knowledge of the photo physics at varying temperatures and pressures, spatial scales that span nm to cm, time scales from ns to ms, and 2D-3D multiphase phenomena. This work develops and applies high-fidelity diagnostics of simulant aerosols and vapors at simulated application conditions, including fireball enclosures and projectile intrusion. It does this by implementing optical and X-ray imaging of sprays generated from a CWA demise event. Post-processing algorithms, such as optical flow, are also used to quantify mass flow and optical depth.