AIR SHOCK PRESSURES AS AFFECTED BY HILLS AND DALES,
Abstract
Pressure measurements under Project 19.1e (hill and dale) during Operation Tumbler-Snapper were a concentrated effort to gain more extensive quantitative information on the effect of hills upon shock waves from large-order explosions in air and to corroborate previous qualitative observations of the shielding effect of hills upon areas in their shadows. Two discrete sites were instrumented for these measurements: at one site, previously instrumented for measurements on Operation Buster, gauges were placed in a line running up the front slope of one hill and down the leeward slope of another; at the other site gauges were placed up the front slope, over the top, and down the lee slope of a single hill (or ridge). Evidence pointed to a decided change in the shape of the shock wave with an increase in pressure as it progressed up the front slope, an intermediate transition phase of indeterminate nature as the shock wave passed over the top during which pressures were probably normal, a steady decrease in pressure as it moved down the lee slope, and a later recovery to normal pressures at the rear of the hill. Further study is recommended to learn more about the nature of the transition phase at the top of a hill and to determine effects of terrain on shock waves of larger overpressure, ie, in the region of military interest. (Author)
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Sep 15, 1952
- Accession Number
- AD0459074
Entities
People
- M. L. Merritt