SOME SEISMIC EFFECTS OF UNDERGROUND EXPLOSIONS IN CAVITIES
The concealment of nuclear explosions by containing them within underground cavities of a size sufficient to ensure the elastic behavior of the side walls has been suggested. A number of effects created by the seismic signal radiated by an explosion in such a cavity are investigated theoretically. A resume of a standard calculation of the Rayleigh waves generated by a source of compressional waves in a semi-infinite homogeneous elastican medium is presented. The stress concentration around a spherical cavity excised from a homogeneous elastic medium acted on by an arbitrary body force is considered. The results are then specialized to the case of a uniform gravitational field with vanishing lateral displacement. The stress distribution around a prolate spheroidal cavity in a uniform gravitational field with vanishing lateral displacement is considered. A discussion of the plastic expansion of a spherical cavity in an infinite elastic medium is presented. The seismic waves generated by an air burst are discussed. (auth)
- Research Organization:
- Los Alamos Scientific Lab., N. Mex.
- DOE Contract Number:
- W-7405-ENG-36
- NSA Number:
- NSA-15-002372
- OSTI ID:
- 4133490
- Report Number(s):
- LA-2405
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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