Material Property Determinations for Rock Valley Legacy Samples in Support of Source Physics Experiment

Technical Report · Mon May 01 04:00:00 EDT 2023

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/2431715· OSTI ID:2431715

Broome, Scott Thomas ^[1]; Wilson, Jennifer Elizabeth ^[1]; Downs, Christine ^[1]; Jaramillo, Johnny Lee ^[1]; Barrow, Perry Carl ^[1]

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1. Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)

The Source Physics Experiment (SPE) is a long-term NNSA research and development effort designed to improve nonproliferation verification and monitoring capabilities. The overarching goals of the SPE program are to improve understanding of prompt signals and physical signatures that develop from underground chemical explosions and associated modeling capabilities. Our work focuses on a primary factor controlling chemical explosion induced signals and signatures: the material properties of the rocks in which the chemical explosion takes place. This document reports on material property determinations of legacy core USGS Test Well F and outcrop analogs for the subsurface stratigraphy for the third phase of SPE in the Rock Valley (RV) area of the Nevada National Security Site (NNSS). The objective of this work is to establish a baseline set of lithologic descriptions and material properties expected prior to observatory borehole drilling in support of the SPE-RVDC (Rock Valley Direct Comparison) experiment. We determine for each rock type the compressional failure envelope, elastic properties as a function of stress (bulk modulus versus mean stress, shear modulus versus shear stress, Young’s modulus versus axial stress and Poisson’s ratio versus axial stress), indirect tensile strength, and porosity. Geologic characterization, both at the core-scale and microscale, provides context for using the data in modeling efforts and to inform interpretations for the material properties testing.

• Research Organization: Sandia National Laboratories (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), Office of Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation
• DOE Contract Number: NA0003525
• OSTI ID: 2431715
• Report Number(s): SAND--2023-04317
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
58 GEOSCIENCES
98 NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT, SAFEGUARDS, AND PHYSICAL PROTECTION