APPLICATION OF THE BALDWIN CRATER RELATION TO THE SCALING OF EXPLOSION CRATERS,
Abstract
Baldwin has demonstrated that the curve of diameter vs depth for craters due to surface explosions on the earth shows a continuous variation through the analogous curve for the terrestrial meteoritic craters into the corresponding curve for lunar craters; the latter two classes of craters are presumed due to explosions associated with meteoritic impact. The conventional (cube-root) method of scaling dimensions of an explosion crater from a prototype crater for different energy releases, by which diameter and depth are each taken proportional to the 1/3 power of the energy, is shown to be inconsistent with the empirical Baldwin relation. Two methods for scaling craters due to surface explosions of high energy are developed which are consistent with the Baldwin relation and preserve different features of cube-root scaling; in one the crater volume is taken proportional to energy release, and in the second the scaling exponent for the diameter is set equal to 1/3. A comparison of the two scaling methods with experimental data is carried out; available data do not permit a choice between the two methods. The results permit one to assign an energy scale to the terrestrial meteoritic and the lunar craters. (Author)
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jan 27, 1956
- Accession Number
- AD0605002
Entities
People
- J. E. Hill
- J. J. Gilvarry
Organizations
- RAND Corporation