| Ballistic ranges are typically used for impact and high speed flight testing. Historically the latter has been limited to nonintrusive methods for data collection. Recent advances have provided rugged, miniaturized data recorders that can survive the high-g test environment. But these recorders must be recovered after impact in operable condition. This technique required the development of a "soft-catch" recovery system.;The desired soft-catch system required inexpensive, consumable materials with variable densities. This dictated the use of common materials such as foam, cardboard and Celotex with limited available data on their performance as ballistic recovery materials. This thesis describes the development and design of the recovery system, including the development of an analytical method to estimate system performance as well as a material testing series. The data presented herein shows the performance of the soft-catch system in meeting the design requirements as well as verifying the analytical model predicts projectile deceleration within a few percent of measured values. |
