Coupling of an overdriven cavity
- Sandia National Labs., Albuquerque, NM (United States)
It is well known that when a nuclear test is conducted in a sufficiently large cavity, the resulting seismic signal is sharply reduced when compared to a normal tamped event. Cavity explosions are of interest in the seismic verification community because of this possibility of reducing the seismic energy generated which can lower signal amplitudes and make detection difficult. Reduced amplitudes would also lower seismic yield estimates which has implications in a Threshold Test Ban Treaty (TTBT). In the past several years, there have been a number of nuclear tests at NTS (Nevada Test Site) inside hemispherical cavities. Two such tests were MILL YARD and MISTY ECHO which had instrumentation at the surface and in the free-field. These two tests differ in one important aspect. MILL YARD was completely decoupled i.e., the cavity wall behaved in an elastic manner. It was estimated that MILL YARD`s ground motion was reduced by a factor of at least 70. In contrast, MISTY ECHO was detonated in a hemispherical cavity with the same dimensions as MILL YARD, but with a much larger device yield. This caused an inelastic behavior on the wall and the explosion was not fully decoupled.
- Research Organization:
- Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
- OSTI ID:
- 91017
- Report Number(s):
- LA-UR-93-3839; CONF-930397-; ON: DE95003509; TRN: 95:018314
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: Numerical modeling for underground nuclear test monitoring symposium, Durango, CO (United States), 23-25 Mar 1993; Other Information: PBD: Nov 1993; Related Information: Is Part Of Proceedings of the Numerical Modeling for Underground Nuclear Test Monitoring Symposium; Taylor, S.R.; Kamm, J.R. [eds.]; PB: 404 p.
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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