Additive Manufacturing of Liners for Shaped Charges

A Shaped Charge (SC) is an explosive device used to focus a detonation in a desired direction, and has applications in demolition and oil extraction. The focusing relies on a void in the explosive mass, shaped by a metal liner that becomes a projectile during detonation. Additive Manufacturing (AM) allows greater design freedom and geometric complexity for the liner portion of the SC. Specifically, hierarchical structuring and functional grading can potentially provide greater velocity, directionality, and efficiency. In this work, Selective Laser Melting (SLM) is used to explore different geometries for an SC liner made out of SS 304L. These are detonated using the explosive Composition C-4 to evaluate performance metrics, depth and standoff, and are observed using high-speed imaging. The work shows the potential for advanced shaped charges produced using SLM.