20-ton and 1/2-ton High Explosive Cratering Experiments in Basalt Rock: Final Report, August 1962 (open access)

20-ton and 1/2-ton High Explosive Cratering Experiments in Basalt Rock: Final Report, August 1962

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.
Date: August 1962
Creator: Vortman, L. J.; MacDougall, H. R. & Rauber, D. F.
System: The UNT Digital Library
20-ton HE Cratering Experiments in Desert Alluvium: Final Report, May 1962 (open access)

20-ton HE Cratering Experiments in Desert Alluvium: Final Report, May 1962

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.
Date: March 1960
Creator: Vortman, Luke J. & MacDougall, H. R.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Analysis of Pressure Drop and Heat Transfer of a Pebble-Bed-Storage Heater for a Hypersonic Wind Tunnel (open access)

Analysis of Pressure Drop and Heat Transfer of a Pebble-Bed-Storage Heater for a Hypersonic Wind Tunnel

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."
Date: May 1961
Creator: Randall, D. E. & Bedford, A.
System: The UNT Digital Library
An Approximate Solution for the Vaporization of Liquid Droplets Formed During Re-Entry Ablation (open access)

An Approximate Solution for the Vaporization of Liquid Droplets Formed During Re-Entry Ablation

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.
Date: April 1965
Creator: Horton, R. N.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Comparison of Fallout Doses from Nevada Tests (Revised) (open access)

Comparison of Fallout Doses from Nevada Tests (Revised)

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.
Date: June 1960
Creator: Reed, Jack W.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Construction of a Sea-Level, Transisthmian Canal Using Nuclear Explosives (open access)

Construction of a Sea-Level, Transisthmian Canal Using Nuclear Explosives

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."
Date: February 1964
Creator: Vortman, Luke J.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Craters From Four Equal Charges in a Horizontal Square Array (open access)

Craters From Four Equal Charges in a Horizontal Square Array

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.
Date: March 1965
Creator: Vortman, Luke J.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Design and Construction of a Unit for Measuring Metal Skin Temperatures (open access)

Design and Construction of a Unit for Measuring Metal Skin Temperatures

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.
Date: February 1961
Creator: Advanced Technology Laboratories
System: The UNT Digital Library
Design of the Sandia High-Altitude Sampler Rocket System (HAS) (open access)

Design of the Sandia High-Altitude Sampler Rocket System (HAS)

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)."
Date: August 1961
Creator: Bustamante, A. C. & Walker, W. E.
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Effect of Row Charge Spacing and Depth on Crater Dimensions (open access)

The Effect of Row Charge Spacing and Depth on Crater Dimensions

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.
Date: November 1963
Creator: Vortman, Luke J. & Schofield, L. N.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Ejecta from Single-Charge Cratering Explosions: Volume 1 (open access)

Ejecta from Single-Charge Cratering Explosions: Volume 1

"Eight high-explosive charges weighing 8 to 1000 pounds were detonated in playa. Each event included 24 to 40 locations of tracer material in the expected crater region. The objective was to obtain data relating the origin of crater ejecta to its depositional location. Resulting data are presented for craters, ejecta areal densities, crater and ejecta mass quantities, tracer dispersion, and an empirical prediction model."
Date: June 1970
Creator: Carlson, Roland H. & Newell, Robert T.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Estimating Safety Probabilities from Fallout Forecasts for Nevada Test Site (open access)

Estimating Safety Probabilities from Fallout Forecasts for Nevada Test Site

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."
Date: July 1, 1960
Creator: Reed, Jack W.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Experimental Determination of the Pressure Drop Through a Pebble Bed (open access)

Experimental Determination of the Pressure Drop Through a Pebble Bed

Abstract: "The pressure drop associated with the flow of air through a cylindrical bed of spherical pebbles has been investigated experimentally. The results of this investigation are reported here."
Date: September 1959
Creator: Randall, D. E. & Millwright, S. S.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Experimental Pressure Distributions and Force Coefficients on Block Forms for Varying Mach Number, Reynolds Number, and Yaw Angle (open access)

Experimental Pressure Distributions and Force Coefficients on Block Forms for Varying Mach Number, Reynolds Number, and Yaw Angle

Abstact: "Wind tunnel tests were performed to determine pressure distributions and normal force coefficients on three block forms on mounting planes. The dimension ratios of the blocks were 1:1:1, 1:1:2, and 1:1:4. Results are given for variation in Mach number from 0.066 to 0.8, in Reynolds number from 0.28 x 10(exp 6) to 4 x 10(exp 6), and in yaw angle from 0 to 90 degrees. Results show a Reynolds number independence over the range examined. Windward face force coefficients for a given block form are approximately proportional to the ratio of impact to dynamic pressure. Pressure distribution and resultant coefficients are affected by mounting planes."
Date: January 1959
Creator: Hankins, Dorris M.
System: The UNT Digital Library
An Exploding Wire as a Fuse for the LASL Capacitor Bank--Zeus (open access)

An Exploding Wire as a Fuse for the LASL Capacitor Bank--Zeus

Abstract: "An exploding copper wire, one millimeter in diameter, 30 centimeters long, has been developed as a fuse component for a Los Alamos capacitor energy source to be employed in controlled thermonuclear research studies. The fuse allows the passage of the high normal duty "action" (13,700 ampere-coulombs per capacitor) at a 20-second repetition rate. However, it interrupts the circuit to a shorted capacitor in 12 microseconds, thereby protecting the faulted capacitor from explosive energy consumption. The initial phase of the development included observations of various metals (copper, silver, iron, and nickel) as well as various configurations (straight wires, helixes, foils, and tubes). Direct scaling of previous small exploding wire studies at Sandia Corporation was demonstrated with scaling factors up to 700,000."
Date: June 4, 1959
Creator: Cnare, Eugene C.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Final Report on Re-entry Flight Demonstration Number Two (open access)

Final Report on Re-entry Flight Demonstration Number Two

Abstract: RFD-2 was the second of Sandia's operational safety flight tests of systems for nuclear auxiliary power.
Date: April 8, 1965
Creator: Hansen, H. E.; Clark, A. J. & Bentz, A. E.
System: The UNT Digital Library
High Explosive Crater Studies: Desert Alluvium (open access)

High Explosive Crater Studies: Desert Alluvium

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.
Date: May 1961
Creator: Murphey, Byron F.
System: The UNT Digital Library
High Explosive Crater Studies: Tuff (open access)

High Explosive Crater Studies: Tuff

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."
Date: April 1961
Creator: Murphey, Byron F.
System: The UNT Digital Library
High-Explosive Ditching from Linear Charges (open access)

High-Explosive Ditching from Linear Charges

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."
Date: July 1961
Creator: Carlson, R. H.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Interim Report on Investigation of Dynamic Characteristics of Relays: June-July 1959 (open access)

Interim Report on Investigation of Dynamic Characteristics of Relays: June-July 1959

From scope of work: This report investigates the dynamic characteristics of sealed military type relays as affected by applied coil voltage and/or current, temperature, spring tension, contact force, contact overtravel, and mechanical clearances.
Date: September 1959
Creator: unknown
System: The UNT Digital Library
Interim Report on Investigation of Dynamic Characteristics of Relays: September-October 1959 (open access)

Interim Report on Investigation of Dynamic Characteristics of Relays: September-October 1959

From scope of work: This report investigates the dynamic characteristics of sealed military type relays as affected by applied coil voltage and/or current, temperature, spring tension, contact force, contact overtravel, and mechanical clearances.
Date: January 1960
Creator: unknown
System: The UNT Digital Library
Irreducible Representations of Line Groups: the Dynamics of Polymer Chains (open access)

Irreducible Representations of Line Groups: the Dynamics of Polymer Chains

Abstract: "The symmetries of infinite polymer chain molecules are discussed using the concept of line groups. Explicit directions are given for obtaining the irreducible representations of line groups employing the formalism developed for three-dimensional space groups. Line groups containing primitive and nonprimitive operations are discussed. Detailed considerations of the line group Vh are given with specific applications to the polyethylene molecule. Directions for generating symmetry-adapted vibrational coordinates for chain molecules are outlined."
Date: December 1961
Creator: Lawson, Katheryn Emanuel & Crosby, G. A.
System: The UNT Digital Library
A Method of Calculating Boundary-Layer Thickness in Axisymmetric Nozzles with Laminar Hypersonic Flow (open access)

A Method of Calculating Boundary-Layer Thickness in Axisymmetric Nozzles with Laminar Hypersonic Flow

Abstract: "The excellent agreement between measured boundary layer thickness and thickness calculated by Sivells and Payne recommends their method for calculating turbulent boundary layer growth in axisymmetric hypersonic nozzles. It was thought worthwhile to adapt their approach to the laminar boundary layer. This analysis, along with a limited amount of corroborating data, is presented herein."
Date: October 1959
Creator: Johnson, Arlo F.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Microbarograph Evaluation Report (open access)

Microbarograph Evaluation Report

From introduction: This report describes the procedures used and the results obtained in evaluating the Wiancko type 3-PBM-2 microbarograph system.
Date: September 3, 1959
Creator: unknown
System: The UNT Digital Library