Review of optical and X-ray techniques used at the Cavendish Laboratory

Abstract

High-speed photography has been used in Cambridge to study dynamic events since the 1940s. In the early years, Courtney-Pratt both developed and used such cameras. More recently, there has been interaction between camera manufacturers and the Cavendish, but the main emphasis has been on using high-speed photographic techniques to obtain data on explosive ignition and propagation, fracture and impact processes. In many situations, it is important to acquire data at both high time and high spatial resolution. Optical techniques which allow this are reviewed. Most recently, the interest has been in obtaining data from inside solids, including opaque ones. This has been made possible by fabricating samples to include a random array of dense particles on a plane within a specimen and then obtaining images using X-rays.

Keywords:

• OPTICAL TECHNIQUES
• MOIRE
• SPECKLE
• INTERFEROMETRY
• IMPACT
• FRACTURE