Design of the M-9 Firing Facility Containment Vessel for Los Alamos National Laboratory
Abstract
Los Alamos National Laboratory Group M-9 has been performing tests of high explosives at their open facilities. Southwest Research Institute was contracted to design, fabricate, and test a containment vessel which will be installed at the M-9 facility. It is required that the vessel contain blast and fragments from routine explosives tests using charge weights up to 10 kg of TNT equivalent. The vessel is fabricated from a 11.5 foot diameter steel cylindrical section with 2: 1 elliptical ends. The cylinder is made of 1.5 inch thick HY100 steel and the heads are made of 2 inch thick HY100 steel. A 4 inch thick HY100 steel plate door is placed in one head, and seats against a 6 inch thick steel frame. Fragment shields constructed with 0.5 inch thick steel are placed against the cylinder walls. The floor is concrete with steel plates along the surface. Penetrations through the vessel are provided for an air inlet and outlet, electrical and gas penetrations, viewports, and a drain. This paper contains a discussion on the need for a contained firing facility at Los Alamos. The design approach, including loads prediction and dynamic structural response calculations, is presented. Drawings of several details of the vessel are also included.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Aug 01, 1992
- Accession Number
- ADA525803
Entities
People
- Edward D. Esparza
- Mark G. Whitney
- Michael A. Polcyn
Organizations
- Southwest Research Institute