Analysis of factors influencing infrared extinction area of explosive smokescreen

OBJECTIVES: Comparative studies of different smokescreen designs are essential to determine differences in extinction performance. This study aims to investigate the extinction performance of explosive smokescreen under different conditions, and to provide an evaluation method for the optimal design of its charge structure. METHODS: The process of formation of the smokescreen with a cylindrical charge structure is described based on the smoothed particle hydrodynamics method. The blast radius and particle density distribution of the smokescreen were calculated for different charge structures and charge ratios through simulations. Lambert–Beer's law was combined to obtain the infrared extinction area. An analysis was then conducted to determine the influence of the number of baffles in the charge structure and charge ratio on the extinction performance of the smokescreen. Field tests were conducted to verify the simulation results. RESULTS: Increasing the number of baffles in the projectile structure made the particle distribution of the smokescreen more uniform and resulted in a larger infrared extinction area. An increase in the explosive quantity, made the smokescreen more dispersed. However, too much of the explosives caused the smokescreen to be sparse, reducing the infrared extinction area.