Advances in printing technologies may enable low-cost and flexible fabrication options for ignition bridges. The inherent nature of these direct write systems enables quick-turn prototyping for laboratory-scale development, while their high throughput allows low-cost production. The Blue Sky Engineering team proposes to develop printed explosive bridges based on its expertise in microdetonators including a M-100-compatible device. Modeling results of explosive bridges have closely matched experimental results during actual explosive testing. This has allowed optimization of design parameters. Key tasks include design optimization for printing processes, fabricate and test prototypes, analyze cost and weight savings, and perform an engineering study that will evaluate the Phase I design in the explosive train and in a gun-launch environment.
