Four-View Split-Image Fragment Tracking in Hypervelocity Impact Experiments

Abstract Fragmentation is a significant phenomenon caused by hypervelocity impact and has applications in orbital debris and planetary impact research, among many others. In particular, the velocity distribution of fragments created by hypervelocity impact is not thoroughly understood. In this paper, we present an experimental setup and analysis method for tracking and measuring individual fragment velocities in 3D. The setup uses two synchronized high-speed cameras with split images, yielding four views, to record image sequences of the in-flight fragments. We analyze the image sequences by identifying fragments and their trajectories in each view, matching the fragments found in different views, and finally triangulating for their 3D positions. The result is a method able to measure fragments’ 3D velocities in the highly transient hypervelocity process.