Structural Element Tests in Support of the Keyworker Blast Shelter Program

Abstract

At the initiation of this study, civil defense planning called for the evacuation of nonessential personnel to safe host areas during a time of crisis, and the construction of shelters to protect the keyworkers remaining behind. The investigation documented in this report will assist the US Army Engineer Division, Huntsville, in designing a 100-man keyworker blast shelter. Six static tests and twelve dynamic tests were conducted on approximately 1/4- scale models of blast shelters. Specific objectives of these tests were to evaluate the preliminary structural design, to investigate structural response in various backfills, to investigate and recommend minimum concrete strength requirements, to evaluate structural response calculations, and to develop a data base on repeated hits so that structural response computational procedures can be developed to include the effects of repeated hits. Test results indicate that the keyworker blast shelter design will resist a peak overpressure of 150 psi from a 1-MT nuclear weapon. Keywords: Airblast simulation; Box structures; Nuclear explosion simulation; Shallow-buried structures; Soil-structure interaction; Underground structures.

Open PDF

Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Oct 01, 1985
Accession Number
ADA165136

Entities

People

  • F. D. Dallriva
  • H. M. Taylor Jr.
  • S. A. Kiger
  • T. R. Slawson

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Counter WMD
  • Ground and Sea Platforms
  • Human Systems
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Blast Loads
  • Concrete
  • Construction
  • Department Of Homeland Security
  • Dynamic Tests
  • Engineers
  • Explosives
  • Failure Mode And Effect Analysis
  • Load Cells
  • Materials
  • Measurement
  • Mechanics
  • Nuclear Weapons
  • Static Tests
  • Strain Gages
  • Stress Strain Relations
  • Structural Response

Fields of Study

  • Education
  • Engineering

Readers

  • Explosive Engineering.
  • Facility/Structural Engineering.
  • Nuclear Civil Defense.