Effect of external magnetic fields on shaped-charge operation

Abstract

This paper deals with electromagnetic actions that allow one to control the shaped-charge effect at different stages of shaped-charge operation. A decrease in penetration of the shaped-charge jet is attained by production of an axial magnetic field in the shaped-charge liner immediately before shot, and production of a magnetic field in the conducting target material that is transverse to the direction of jet propagation. The considerable decrease in the penetration capability of the charge observed in the experiments is attributed to a sharp amplification of the magnetic field in the jet formation region upon liner collapse. The effects accompanying the “field pumping” prevent the normal formation of a shaped-charge jet. A model of magnetic field generation in a conducting medium subjected to high-velocity deformation with particle elongation along the magnetic flux lines is considered. X-ray photographs of shaped-charge jets formed from a “magnetized liner” are given. Theoretical calculations have shown that deformation conditions that can provide for intense magnetic field generation also arise during high-velocity jet penetration into a conducting target across the flux lines of the initial magnetic field previously produced in the target.