A methodology for the calibration of stress and motion instrumentation for dry soils

A technique has been developed for calibrating stress and motion instrumentation in the stress region of 1-10 kbars based on the planar impact of a large metal flyer plate with a uniform dry soil testbed. By measuring the impact velocity of the plate and the propagation velocity of the resulting ground shock and assuming uniaxial soil strain with no strain recovery, the stress and motion fields in the testbed can be described completely. An analytical formulation based on these simple assumptions is developed. Hydrodynamic computer calculations are used to investigate the assumptions of the model. The results of numerical simulations of a flyer plate impacting a dry soil testbed are compared against the predictions of the theoretical model and experimental data.