Microwave emission due to hypervelocity impacts and its correlation with mechanical destruction

Microwave emission due to hypervelocity impacts on metallic plates has been found. The targets used in the experiment are aluminum plates with various thicknesses. The projectile, a nylon cylinder with metal screw of 0.21 gm, was accelerated up to the velocity of 4 km/s; a heterodyne receiver detected the microwave at 22 GHz. The emission is a random sequence of pulses with several nanosecond width, which lasts more than 10 mus. The phenomenon seems to be dependent on the extent of target destruction through the formation of impact craters or penetration. If so, we could use the characteristics of the phenomena to better understand the mechanical destruction process. We propose several models for the cause of this microwave generation and study them on the basis of timing relation of observed events. (C) 2002 American Institute of Physics.