Safe Separation Distances between Sand Covered Corrugated Steel Pipes Containing Explosive Charges
Abstract
Storing ammunition in sand or earth covered pipes would permit tactical units, with limited real estate assets, to construct non-permanent storage sites, quickly and economically, to support maintenance operations requiring downloading, and for the storage of selected basic load items. To provide safety design guidance for such a facility, the Ballistic Research Lab., conducted a series of donor acceptor tests employing sand-covered corrugated steel pipes to determine the safe separation distance between pipes required to localize damage in the event that the ordnance items in one pipe detonate en masse. Steel pipes with diameters ranging from 0.5-2.0 ft. (15-61 cm), two diameters in length, containing explosive charges weighing up to 47.5 lbs (21.5 kg) were used to support this effort. The results of a regression and discriminant analysis of the test results can be used either to design a new facility or evaluate the safety of an existing facility. Limited test data are also available on the influence of venting, explosive charge position, top cover depth and the effectiveness of sand-air-sand barriers versus all sand barriers. Keywords: Blast damage; Safe separation, Ammunition storage; High explosives.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- May 01, 1985
- Accession Number
- ADA157000
Entities
People
- Harry J. Reeves
Organizations
- Ballistic Research Laboratory