Investigation of S-IV All Systems Vehicle Explosion

Abstract

Investigation of the S-IV All Systems Vehicle explosion indicated the following: high explosive equivalent, 1 percent; fireball diameter, 380 feet; fireball duration, 11 seconds; maximum fragment radius, 1500 feet. The relatively low yield was due to substantially instantaneous ignition of the spilled propellants which probably resulted from the extreme flammability of hydrogen. If this trend persists in the scale model test programs now in progress, some reduction in the 60 percent high explosive equivalent currently used for siting of Lox/LH2 vehicles may be possible.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Sep 01, 1964
Accession Number
ADA397556

Entities

People

  • J. B. Gayle

Organizations

  • National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Counter IED
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Explosions
  • Explosives
  • Failure Mode And Effect Analysis
  • Fires
  • Fuel Tanks
  • High Explosives
  • Ignition Lag
  • Liquid Hydrogen
  • Liquid Oxygen
  • Materials
  • Materials Laboratories
  • Materials Science
  • Measurement
  • Plastic Explosives
  • Propellants
  • Sheet Metal
  • Test Facilities

Fields of Study

  • Physics

Readers

  • Combustion science or combustion engineering.
  • Explosive Engineering.
  • Optical Fiber Sensing and Electromagnetic Propagation.