Laser Shock Simulation of Pyroshock Environment: Experimental Investigation with Water Confinement

Pyroshock, generated by pyrotechnic explosions, poses a severe threat to spacecraft by potentially causing fatal damage to critical components. Reliable ground simulation techniques are consequently essential for evaluating the resistance of spacecraft-borne instruments to pyroshocks. Specifically, laser-induced shock is believed to have significant potential to simulate real pyroshock environments, but direct experimental validation is still lacking. This study performs a comparative experimental investigation of pyroshock and laser shock responses (LSRs). Multiple detonating cord-based experiments were performed to investigate pyroshocks with varying explosive charge masses and shock wave propagation distances. The involved explosive train structures were characterized to identify the primary impact sources. Various LSR experiments were performed to evaluate the laser-induced shock response with diverse laser pulse energies. Water confinement was employed to enhance the shock amplitude. Results demonstrate that the shock response spectrum amplitudes scale with both explosive charge mass and laser energy, reaching near-field pyroshock environment levels. A close similarity is observed between the two types of shock responses. This work provides, for the first time, direct experimental verification of the feasibility of using laser-induced shock to simulate near-field pyroshock environments.