Using Monte Carlo techniques and parallel processing for fragmentation analysis of explosive payloads
Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) launched the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) sponsored ZEST flight test program from the SNL Kauai Test Facility (KTF) in the summer of 1991. The ZEST program had about 255 pounds of high explosive (HE) aboard a Talos-Castor launch vehicle. Naturally, such undertakings raise questions about the safety of personnel and the environment in the event of a premature detonation of the HE. These questions pertain not only to KTF and the island of Kauai but to the neighboring islands as well. The ability to determine realistically P{sub I}, the probability of an explosively generated fragment impacting a given exclusion area, is an important factor in the safety analysis of any flight test involving explosive payloads. Once P{sub I} is known, the casualty expectations C{sub E} can be computed based on local demographics. A set of two computer codes was developed to determine P{sub I} based on computed fragment impacts. One of these codes, SAFETIE1 (Sandia Analysis of FragmEnt TrajectorIEs), computes files of trajectory initial conditions generated in a Monte Carlo sense for a set of n explosions each containing m fragments. These initial condition files are then used to compute trajectories in a parallel processing environment using a local area network (LAN) of 40 Sun workstations. This approach saves the equivalent of 40 hours of Cray YMP time. The other code, SAFETIE2, is a postprocessor that uses an AMEER output file generated by SAFETIE1, to determine how many explosions have at least one fragment in a user defined exclusion area. The average number of fragments per explosion in the exclusion area ({bar N}) is also computed (for C{sub E} considerations). 12 refs.
- Research Organization:
- Sandia National Labs., Albuquerque, NM (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC04-76DP00789
- OSTI ID:
- 10111969
- Report Number(s):
- SAND--91-1148C; CONF-920157--2; ON: DE92005181
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
450100
99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS
990200
CHEMICAL EXPLOSIONS
CHEMICAL EXPLOSIONS AND EXPLOSIVES
COMPUTERIZED SIMULATION
DETONATIONS
FLIGHT TESTING
FRAGMENTATION
LAUNCHING
MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTERS
MISSILES
MONTE CARLO METHOD
PARALLEL PROCESSING
S CODES
SAFETY ANALYSIS