On Nuclear Height-of-Burst Airblast at High Overpressure

Abstract

Results of a brief review and evaluation of height-of-burst (HOB) airblast environments produced by nuclear weapons, with emphasis placed on the high overpressure side of the thermal precursor shock envelope, are presented. It is concluded that no significant precursors will be formed at and above the 1000 psi overpressure level for any value of weapon yield or height-of-burst, and that blast environment prescriptions for ideal surfaces may be used with acceptable confidence for bursts over thermally non-ideal surfaces in this overpressure range. It is concluded further that no degradation in the values of airblast kill mechanisms with respect to ground burst values should occur over a substantial portion of the shins of the HOB curves at and above 1000 psi.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jan 01, 1975
Accession Number
ADB016239

Entities

People

  • H. J. Carpenter

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Counter WMD
  • Space
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Air Force
  • Blast
  • Blast Loads
  • Blast Waves
  • Boundaries
  • Classification
  • Dynamic Pressure
  • Explosions
  • Explosives
  • Height Of Burst
  • High Pressure
  • Nuclear Weapons
  • Overpressure
  • Pressure Measurement
  • Surface Burst
  • Surface Properties
  • Test And Evaluation

Readers

  • Auditory Neuroscience/Auditory Physiology.
  • Mathematical Modeling and Probability Theory.
  • Phased Array Antenna Design.