BEHAVIOR OF UNDERGROUND STRUCTURES SUBJECTED TO AN UNDERGROUND EXPLOSION

Technical Report · Fri Oct 11 04:00:00 EDT 1957

OSTI ID:4828930

Sinnamon, G K; Woodring, R E; Newmark, N M; Matsuda, F

Two buried reinforced concrete four-walled structures without floor or roof were tested, one at 200 feet and the other at 250 feet from a 1.2 kt device buried at a depth of 67 feet. The structures were instrumented to give transient load and response data. In addition, provisions were made to obtain data on permanent displacements and strains. The crater formed by the explosion was unexpectedly small, being l46 feet in radius, so that the two targets were approximately 50 and 100 feet from the edge of the crater. The pressure measured on the front wall of the structure at the 200-foot range was approximately onefourth of the stress of 125 psi in the medium, while the pressure measured on the front wall of the structure at the 250-foot range was slightly greater than the medium stress of 41.5 psi. The structures responded primarily as rigid bodies and followed the soil motion; consequently, there was no structural damage. The permanent movements of the boxes were 3.8 feet and 0.5 foot, horizontally, away from the point of burst. It is concluded that buried structures of the type tested are difficult to damage structurally, unless located within or close to the edge of the crater and that, for structures outside of the crater, problems created by large earth movements and throwout might be critical for structures relatively close to the edge of the crater. (auth)

• Research Organization: Illinois. Univ., Urbana
• NSA Number: NSA-16-002830
• OSTI ID: 4828930
• Report Number(s): WT-1126
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

CONCRETES
CONFIGURATION
CRATERS
DEFORMATION
GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS
INSTRUMENTS
MEASURED VALUES
MOTION
PLANNING
PRESSURE
REACTOR FUELING
SOILS
STRESSES
TARGETS
TESTING
TRANSIENTS
UNDERGROUND EXPLOSIONS