HYDRODYNAMIC CONCEPTS SELECTED TOPICS FOR UNDERWATER NUCLEAR EXPLOSIONS

Abstract

This paper gives a narrative description of the hydrodynamic concepts which are important for the understanding of underwater explosion processes with particular emphasis given to the physical background. Mathematical developments are entirely omitted or kept to a minimum. The paper describes the concepts of the various fluid motions and fluid models involved in explosion phenomena. The properties of the shock front are described and the interrelationship between the formation of the nuclear bubble and the shock front is pointed out. The properties of high amplitude waves are outlined using Riemann's description. The formation of underwater explosion bubbles is shown to be a hydrodynamic consequence of the spherical pressure wave emitted by the explosion. Such a wave always produced a radial mass flow directed outward, the afterflow, which must lead to the formation of a cavity. The acoustic approximation of pressure waves is discussed in Appendix A. Appendix B contains comments on the entropy concept.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Sep 15, 1966
Accession Number
AD0803113

Entities

People

  • Hans G. Snay

Organizations

  • Naval Ordnance Laboratory

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Air Platforms
  • C4I
  • Energy and Power Technologies
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Acoustic Propagation
  • Acoustic Waves
  • Boundary Layer
  • Climate Change
  • Computational Fluid Dynamics
  • Computational Science
  • Differential Equations
  • Energy Transfer
  • Explosions
  • Explosives
  • Fluid Dynamics
  • Mechanics
  • Munitions
  • Nuclear Explosions
  • Ordnance Laboratories
  • Partial Differential Equations
  • Thermodynamics

Readers

  • Combustion science or combustion engineering.
  • Marine Hydrodynamics
  • Systems Analysis and Design