This report describes the Sandia Corporation participation and results related to Project Buckboard: the detonation of three 40,000-pound and ten 1000-pound high-explosive charges in basalt rock to establish depth -of-burst curves.

From abstract and summary: Project Stagecoach consisted of the detonation of three 40,000-pound charges. Blocks of cast TNT were stacked to resemble a sphere and, the whole center-detonated.

Proceedings on aerospace nuclear safety.

Abstract: This memorandum presents the possible applications and instructions for using REDCROSS, an IBM-704 computer program.

Abstract: "The pressure drop and the time-temperature variation of the air test medium and heat storage material in a pebble-bed heater (designed for intermittent hypersonic wind-tunnel operation at test section Mach numbers of 4 to 11) are presented."

Introduction: The purpose of this report is to describe a mathematical model which will help solve the ultimate-particle-size problem by estimating the evaporative mass losses during that portion of re-entry when the fuel is in liquid form.

From abstract: The PT-750 is designed to be used in conjunction with a production tester which requires automatic recording of test data. This manual provides a source of procedures and reference material necessary in automatic recording and in use of the PT-750.

Abstract: This technical memorandum describes an automatic tester and recorder as it is used in obtaining fusing time information from electrical fuses for subsequent analysis in the IBM 704 computer.

Abstract: "Methods developed by [the Systems Evaluation Department] to analyze circular targets are extended to handle a particular family of casualty curves."

From abstract: Many residents of the Nevada area carried film badge radiation dosimeters during Operation Plumbbob in 1957. Badge readings in specific localities appear to follow the logarithmic-normal distribution.

Introduction: Confidence limits as a mathematical tool are applicable to many development engineering and production engineering situations. In order to make confidence limits readily available to engineers, a computer was designed which will approximate certain confidence limits.

Partial abstract: "This report is based: (1) on information developed in earlier high explosive experiments which determined the optimum spacing and burial depth of charges in a row to produce a channel uniformly wide and deep, and (2) on the Sedan and Danny Boy experiments, which provided data on dimensions of nuclear craters in both soil and basalt rock. This information has been combined with the 1947 route surveys of the Panama Canal company, and estimates have been made not only of the number and yield of nuclear explosives required to excavate a Transisthmian canal with nuclear explosives, but also of the cost of the explosives and the cost of their replacement."

Craters were observed resulting from square arrays of 64-pound charges at various spacings and depths. The closest spacings yielded craters very like those from single 256-pound charges, while wider spacings yielded craters more or less square in shape and with a mound or pier at the center. Generally, the areas so uncovered were greater than for single 256-pound charges, except for very deep charges. Volumes, too, were enhanced by this configuration by as much as a factor of three. If the same factor is maintained for nuclear charges, the cost per unit volume of a crater from such an array will be within 20 percent of that for a single charge.

Acknowledgement: The cumulative Binomial Distribution Computer incorporates valuable suggestions made by supervision and members of the Sandia Corporation Reliability Department.

From summary: This report concerns the theoretical evaluation and experimental development of special thermocouples capable of being accurately located at or near the surface of metal structures to permit measurement of temperature distribution through the strictures.

Abstract: "This report presents the characteristics incorporated in the design of a ballistic rocket system that is capable of carrying recoverable payloads varying in weight from 75 to 200 pounds to altitudes of 600,000 to 1,000,000 feet (msl)."

A digital comparator has been designed to flag data which goes above a maximum limit or below a minimum limit.

From preface: The work described in this document is directed toward determining the optimum method of employing explosives to form a ditch, channel, or canal of certain desired dimensions.

Abstract: "Available data on wind persistence and wind forecasting capability have been applied in estimating the probability of a fallout pattern shifting from an uninhabited safe sector into a populated region. Safety probability is computed from win variability, forecasting accuracy, initial height and particle size of radioactivity landing at a point in the predicted fallout pattern, predicted wind speed, length of forecast period, and safe-sector angular width."

The present report describes the evaluations conducted with plated-through connections produced by techniques used by some of the prominent fabricators of printed circuits.

Abstract: RFD-2 was the second of Sandia's operational safety flight tests of systems for nuclear auxiliary power.

From abstract: Crater dimensions have been determined for 23 explosions of 256-pound spherical TNT charges buried in desert alluvium. As opposed to previous work covering depths of burst as great as 6 feet, the work presented in this report extends knowledge of apparent crater radius and depth to depths of burst as great as 30 feet.

Abstract: "Spherical charges of TNT, each weighing 256 pounds, were exploded at various depths in tuff to determine apparent crater dimensions in a soft rock. No craters were obtained for depths of burst equal to or greater than 13.3 feet. It was deduced that rock fragments were sufficiently large that charges of greater magnitude should be employed for crater experiments intended as models of nuclear explosions."

Abstract: "Weights of linear high-explosive charges fired on the Yucca Lake playa of the Nevada Test Site varied from 0.23 to 42.7 pounds per foot. Crater and ditch dimensions and volumes resulting from these shots, fired during the fall of 1959 and spring of 1960, are presented here as a function of charge burst depths. Scaling relationships determined are as expected; i.e., square-root scaling of linear-charge weight per foot for ditch width and depth and a direct linear-charge weight relationship to ditch volume are obtained. Permanent ground surface displacement varies as the -3.22 power of the scaled distance from the charge. Detonation effects, charge shape effects, ditch erosion, and ditch cross sections are discussed. The appendixes present Toboggan data, results of soil investigation, and mathematical treatment given the data."