Quantitative Visualization of Open-Air Explosions by Using Background-Oriented Schlieren with Natural Background

This paper describes application of a background oriented schlieren (BOS) technique in order to obtain quantitative measurements of shock waves from explosions by processing high speed digital video recordings. To illustrate the technique we present results from analysis of two explosions, one by C-4, the other by emulsion explosives (EMX). The experimentswere performed at theMinistry of Defense Test field, and carried out by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI). The objective of this paper is to show that the shock wave overpressures in a field explosion test can be predicted quantitatively by means of this technique.