NUCLEAR EXPLOSIONS IN CAVITIES

Abstract

Underground cavities have been suggested as an effective means of reducing the seismic signals from nuclear detonations. This memorandum reports the wall pressures, temperatures, and densities for five specific examples, for which average cavity pressures range between 44 and 420 bars, with peak pressures between 0.2 and 8.2 Kbars. One nuclear yield, 1.7 kilotons, was exploded (theoretically) in two cavities of 20 and 40 meters radius, each with normal and one-tenth normal air density in it. The larger cavity was also used with a density of one-hundredth normal. In addition to the wall pressures, temperatures, and densities as functions of time for each case, some typical pressure, temperature, and density profiles in the cavity interiors at various times are reported.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Nov 01, 1965
Accession Number
AD0623820

Entities

People

  • H. L. Brode

Organizations

  • RAND Corporation

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Counter IED
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Decoupling
  • Detection
  • Detonations
  • Differential Equations
  • Diffusion
  • Energy
  • Energy Transfer
  • Equations
  • Equations Of State
  • Explosions
  • Explosives
  • Explosives Detection
  • High Pressure
  • Nuclear Explosions
  • Radiation
  • Shock Waves
  • Temperature Gradients

Fields of Study

  • Physics

Readers

  • Combustion Dynamics and Shock Wave Physics.
  • Marine Propulsion Engineering and Naval Architecture
  • Seismology