Projectile velocity measurement using piezoelectric pressure sensors and its comparison with radar results

Abstract

This paper deals with measurement of projectile velocity from the shockwave signature generated due to supersonic motion of projectiles. Two measurement methodologies have been developed. In the first case, single piezoelectric sensor is used. The time duration of N wave gives the velocity information. In the second case, by using two sensors, from the time of arrival value, the velocity of the projectile has been computed. This paper also covers the spectrum analysis of shock wave signature using Fast Fourier Transformation (FFT) in MATLAB. The velocity results obtained using above two methods is compared with the velocity obtained using Continuous wave (CW) radar systems. From the comparison results, it is found that the second method which is based on the time of arrival measurement is more accurate. The average velocity measurement error using this method with respect to radar results is found to be of the order of 0.36%.