FREE-AIR BLAST MEASUREMENTS FOR CAVITY UGT

A PHASE I SBIR STUDY IS PROPOSED TO DETERMINE ANALYTICALLY THE FEASIBILITY OF MEASURING THE FREE-AIR (UNREFLECTED) AIRBLAST WAVEFORMS FROM A NUCLEAR BURST IN AN UNDERGROUND CAVITY. SUCH DATA WOULD BE USEFUL FOR EVALUATING MEASUREMENTS TO BE MADE OF THE AIRBLAST IN THE REGION OF BLAST RELECTION FROM THE CAVITY FLOOR AND WALL. THE STUDY WILL CONSIDER WELL-PROVEN PIEZOELECTRIC AND RESISTIVE TECHNIQUES USED IN ABOVE GROUND HE TESTS TO DETERMINE IF SPECIAL SHIELDING PROVIDED BY THE MOUNTING SCHEME CAN PROTECT ADEQUATELY AGAINST NUCLEAR RADIATIONS. MODIFICATIONS TO THESE WELL-DEVELOPED TECHNIQUES WILL BE INVESTIGATED TO PROVIDE THE REQUIRED PROTECTION. IF REQUIRED, SOME IDEAS FOR NEW APPROACHES USING OPTICS WILL BE INVESTIGATED. THE GOAL OF PHASE I IS TO PROVE ANALYTICALLY THE TECHNICAL FEASIBILITY OF ONE OR TWO SCHEMES, TO ACCOMPLISH THEIR PRELIMINARY DESIGN, AND TO PREPARE A PLAN FOR EXPERIMENTALLY PROVING THEM IN LABORATORY TESTS. PHASE I RESULTS WOULD SUPPORT A PHASE II EFFORT OF DETAILED PROBE DESIGN, FABRICATION, PROOF TESTING, AND POSSIBLY FIELDING IN THE DIAMOND FORTUNE UGT.