Understanding the Risk of Ammunition Kickout from Explosion-Suppressive Structures

Abstract

The mission of the U.S. Army Combat Systems Test Activity (USACSTA or CSTA), Aberdeen Proving Ground (APG), MD, includes the evaluation of large caliber weapons. As these weapons increase in size, so does the danger associated with testing them. The availability of land for large caliber firing ranges is decreasing. Because of that unavailability, incompatible operations are often conducted contiguously. In such cases, personnel and facilities are exposed to the dangers associated with weapons testing. happen in a test structure, but it is a very unlikely occurrence. For an accident to occur, a complex sequence of events must happen. If that sequence is explicitly identified, then it can be controlled. By controlling selected hazards, the risk (risk is the expected value of an event 01 accident) can be reduced. If it has been reduced to an acceptable degree, the requirements applied to the design and subsequent operation of any facility can be relaxed. There is no guarantee an explosive accident will never Because of the high cost of constructing weapons test facilities, alternatives must be designed in the context of the risks associated with such testing. Using System Safety techniques, those risks can be identified and modeled. This paper suggests a model from which can be derived safe and cost-effective construction, design and operating alternatives for weapons testing facilities.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Aug 01, 1990
Accession Number
ADA525593

Entities

People

  • Richard B. Shipe

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Human Systems
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Accidents
  • Ammunition
  • Construction
  • Detonations
  • Energy
  • Energy Transfer
  • Explosions
  • Explosives
  • Fault Tree Analysis
  • Hazards
  • Heat Flux
  • Munitions
  • Safety
  • System Safety
  • Test And Evaluation
  • Test Facilities
  • Weapons

Readers

  • Aviation Safety Risk Assessment.
  • Munitions and Ordnance Engineering
  • Regression Analysis.