Statistical analysis of the particulation of shaped charge jets

A statistical analysis of shaped charge jet break-up was carried out in order to investigate the role of nonlinear instabilities leading to the particulation of the jet. Statistical methods generally used for studying fluctuations in nonlinear dynamical systems are applied to experimentally measured velocities of the individual particles. In particular we present results suggesting the deviation of non-Gaussian behavior for interparticle velocity correlations, characteristic of nonlinear dynamical systems. Results are presented for two silver shaped charge jets that differ primarily in their material processing. We provide evidence that the particulation of a jet is not random, but has its origin in a deterministic dynamical process involving the nonlinear coupling of two oscillators analogous to the underling dynamics observed in Rayleigh-Benard convection and modeled in the return map of Curry and Yorke.