skip to main content
OSTI.GOV title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: Unconfined Compression Results on Core from Boreholes U-15n#12 and U-15n#13, NNSS in support of SPE

Technical Report ·
DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/1488325· OSTI ID:1488325
 [1];  [1]
  1. Sandia National Laboratories (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)

The Nevada National Security Site (NNSS) serves as the geologic setting for a Source Physics Experiment (SPE) program. The SPE provides ground truth data to create and improve strong ground motion and seismic S-wave generation and propagation models. The NNSS was chosen as the test bed because it provides a variety of geologic settings ranging from relatively simple to very complex. Each series of SPE testing will comprise the setting and firing of explosive charges (source) placed in a central borehole at varying depths and recording ground motions in instrumented boreholes located in two rings around the source, positioned at different radii. Modeling using advanced simulation codes will be performed both before and after each test to predict ground response and to improve models based on acquired field data, respectively. A key component in the predictive capability and ultimate validation of the models is the full understanding of the intervening geology between the source and the instrumented boreholes including the geomechanical behavior of the site's rock/structural features. This report summarizes unconfined compression testing (UCS) from coreholes U-15n#12 and U-15n#13 and compares those datasets to UCS results from coreholes U-15n and U-15n#10. U-15n#12 corehole was drilled at -60° to the horizontal and U-15n#13 was drilled vertically in granitic rock (quartz monzonite) after the third SPE shot. Figure 1 illustrates at the surface, U 15n#12 and U-15n#13 coreholes were approximately 30 meters and 10 meters from the central SPE borehole (U-15n) respectively. Corehole U-15n#12 intersects the central SPE borehole (U 15n) at a core depth of 174 feet (approximately 150 feet vertical depth). The location of U 15n#12 and U-15n#13 is the site of the first, second and third SPE's, in Area 15 of the NNSS.

Research Organization:
Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States); Sandia National Lab. (SNL-CA), Livermore, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), Office of Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation
DOE Contract Number:
AC04-94AL85000; NA0003525
OSTI ID:
1488325
Report Number(s):
SAND-2018-13768R; 670889
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

Similar Records

Unconfined Compression Results on Core from Borehole U-15n#10, NNSS, in support of SPE
Technical Report · Wed Dec 19 00:00:00 EST 2018 · OSTI ID:1488325

Mechanical Testing Results on Core from Borehole U-15n, NNSS, in support of SPE
Technical Report · Wed Dec 19 00:00:00 EST 2018 · OSTI ID:1488325

Geologic Assessment of the Damage Zone from the Second Test at Source Physics Experiment-Nevada (SPE-N)
Conference · Tue Sep 18 00:00:00 EDT 2012 · Proceedings of the 2012 Monitoring Research Review: Ground-Based Nuclear Explosion Monitoring Technologies · OSTI ID:1488325