THE OVERPRESSURE-DURATION RELATIONSHIP AND LETHALITY IN SMALL ANIMALS

Abstract

A total of 993 mice, rats, guinea pigs and rab bits were exposed to sharp-rising overpressures of various short durations. They were mounted on a concrete pad above which high-explosive charges, ranging in weight from 0.50 oz to 64 lbs, were detonated. Pressure-time measurements were obtained with pencil-type and shock-tube piezo-electric gauges on the pad directly beneath the charges. The duration of the blast waves ranged from 0.40 msec to 6.8 msec. The LD50 pressures were calculated for each species at the different pulse durations. In general, the pressures required to produce 50% lethality rose at the shorter durations. Combining the results of this study with those from previous shock tube investigations made it possible to define the tolerance of four small-animal species to sharply rising overpressures as a function of pulse duration.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Sep 10, 1962
Accession Number
AD0403504

Entities

People

  • C. S. White
  • D. R. Richmond
  • V. C. Goldizen
  • V. R. Clare

Organizations

  • Lovelace Foundation

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Biomedical
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Air Force
  • Air Force Facilities
  • Biological Sciences
  • Blast Waves
  • Engineering
  • Engineers
  • Explosive Charges
  • Explosives
  • Factor Analysis
  • Health Services
  • High Explosives
  • Laboratory Animals
  • Measurement
  • Medical Personnel
  • Pressure Transducers
  • Rodents
  • Warfare

Readers

  • Explosive Engineering.
  • Mathematics or Statistics
  • Virology (or Medical Virology).