GRAVITY EFFECTS IN SMALL SCALE STRUCTURAL MODELING

THE OBJECTIVE OF THE PROPOSED RESEARCH IS TO DEVELOP CONCEPTS AND PROCEDURES WHICH CAN COMPENSATE FOR GRAVITY EFFECTS (WITHOUT USING ARTIFICIALLY-INDUCED GRAVITY) IN SMALL SCALE ONE-G MODEL TESTS SIMULATING THE EFFECTS OF CLOSE-IN AND SHALLOWLY BURIED DETONATION OF NONNUCLEAR WEAPONS ON PROTECTIVE STRUCTURES. THE SUCCESS OF THIS PROPOSED PROGRAM WILL LEAD TO THE IMPROVED DESIGN/UPGRADE METHODOLOGIES FOR PROTECTIVE STRUCTURES SUBJECTED TO NONNUCLEAR WEAPONS ATTACKS. THE PROPOSED PROGRAM WILL ACCOMPLISH THE OBJECTIVE BY ESTABLISHING APPROPRIATE SCALING RELATIONSHIPS FOR SMALL SCALE ONE-G MODELING THROUGH LITERATURE EVALUATION, DIMENSIONAL ANALYSIS AND DEVELOPMENT OF A MATERIALS SIMULANT DATA BASE. THE FEASIBILITY AND APPLICABILITY OF THE DEVELOPED ONE-G MODELING TECHNIQUES WILL BE FURTHER STRENGTHENED BY A PARALLEL INVESTIGATION OF POTENTIAL MEANS FOR ARTIFICAL MODIFICATION OF MATERIAL PROPERTIES, SUPPORTING ANALYTICAL AND EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURES, AND IMPROVED MONITORING TECHNIQUES. IT IS ANTICIPATED THAT THE RESULTS OF PHASE I PROGRAM WILL ESTABLISH COST-EFFECTIVE AND TECHNICALLY SOUND ONE-G MODELING CONCEPTS (AND COMPLEMENTARY SUPPORTING TECHNIQUES) TO SIMULATE NONNUCLEAR WEAPONS EFFECTS FOR A WIDE RANGE OF CONDITIONS. THE DEVELOPEDCONCEPTS AND TECHNIQUES CAN BE TESTED IN THE PHASE II STUDY. THE RESULTS CAN THEN BE VALIDATED BY COMPARING THEM WITH THE RESULTS OF WELLDOCUMENTED, FULL SCALE OR CENTRIFUGE MODEL TESTS.