Ballistic-Range Technology

The report is a comprehensive treatment of the state-of-the-art of ballistic-range testing, written for graduates by members of the staffs of the Hypersonic Free-Flight Branch at NASA-Ames Research Center and the Aerophysics Division of the Defence Research Establishment of Canada. The capability and potential of ballistic ranges are not as widely appreciated as they deserve to be and the book aims to show the opportunities they afford for experimental research in ballistic-missile aerodynamics, to point out the problems involved, to guide the preliminary design of new ballistic ranges, to provide reference material to enable full exploitation of existing ranges, and to help in evaluating the applicability and accuracy of results. Individual chapters deal with modern ranges and their uses, light-gas guns, model design and launching techniques, terminal ballistics, counterflow, measurement systems, aerodynamics of bodies from motion analysis, photographic techniques, optical radiation studies, microwave studies, point measurements in the wake and convective- heating measurements. NATO furnished.