Explosive technique for axisymmetric expansion of cylinders at high strain rates

Dry PETN high explosive which had been vibrated into an annular cavity and surface-initiated with a mesh pattern of etched copper bridgewires was used to expand Type 304 stainless steel cylinders through fracture at initial strain rates of approx. 2700 s/sup -1/. This technique produced a uniform detonation that was simultaneous to within 100 ns over the loaded surface.