Sandia National Laboratory examines how IEDs explode

A Sandia National Laboratory research team recently used high-speed cameras, imaging techniques and advanced computer modeling to study fragmenting explosives.

The Sandia research team wanted to study how improvised explosive devices (IEDs) come apart in explosions in order to lessen the damage they cause.

“The details matter,” Mark Anderson, principal investigator for Sandia’s fragment tracking project, said. “Explosives are very complex to understand and to use, and they continually keep us humble.”

The research team used modern cameras, diagnostic technology and computer algorithms to obtain as many data points as possible. Previous iterations of the technology did not provide enough detailed data, forcing the researchers to make assumptions about the direction the fragments flew.

“We know that fragments travel at high speed, but we don’t really know the aerodynamic drag,” Anderson said. “When we see the size and shape of the fragment and we see it as it tumbles and rotates, we know the drag changes.”

Steve Attaway, engineering sciences researcher for Sandia, said that their high-performing computers improved the way they calculate fragment movement.

“We’re running calculations now that 10 years ago we wouldn’t dream of attempting,” Attaway said. “That said, every calculation is incomplete in what can be included, so the ability to gain more insight on how to make approximations to better mimic the fracture and fragmentation is important.”

The research team is planning for three to four tests per year, each consisting of multiple explosions.