SIMULATION OF DUST CLOUDS FOR MISSILE COMPONENT TESTS

AN EXPERIMENTAL PROGRAM IS PROPOSED TO INVESTIGATE THE TRANSFER OF PROVEN TECHNOLOGY PREVIOUSLY ADAPTED FOR SOUNDING ROCKET CHEMICAL RELEASES AND THERMAL SIMULATION, TO PROVIDE A DUST LADEN FIELD THAT SIMULATES A NUCLEAR BURST ENVIRONMENT. THIS INVESTIGATION PROPOSES THE USE OF AN EXOTHERMIC SOLID STATE PARTICLE/PARTICLE REACTION AND IN COMBINATION WITH INERT DUST PARTICLES, TO CREATE THE CLOUD REQUIREMENTS. EXPERIENCE HAS SHOW THAT THE REACTION PROVIDES OVER 95% OF THE MASS TO THE PARTICLE FIELD AS OPPOSED TO HIGH ENERGY EXPLOSIVES THAT PROVIDE LESS THAN 10% OF THE MASS TO THE PARTICLE FIELD (HENCE THE REQIREMENT OF HIGH DOSAGE LEVELS). MOREOVER, EXPERIENCE HAS SHOWN THAT THE CLOUD MASS DENSITY AND PARTICLE SIZE CAN BE CONTROLLED AS WELL AS THE CLOUD SIZE. IN ORDER TO MAXIMIZE THE FLIGHT DISTANCE WITH MINIMUM WEIGHT IT IS PROPOSED TO PRODUCE AN ELONGATED HIGH DENSITY CLOUD COMPOSED OF SEVERAL CLOUDS (IN SERIES GENERATED BY INDIVIDUAL CANISTERS). THE LOW RELEASE PRESSURE IN COMBINATION WITH PARTICULATE PRODUCTS (95% OF TOTAL) ALLOWS THE HIGHER DENSITY AS COMPARED TO THOSE GENERATED BY EXPLOSIVES. THE PROPOSED PROGRAM FEATURES A SUB-SCALE EXPERIMENT THAT ALLOWS FOR DIAGNOSTICS OF THE CLOUD DEVELOPMENT AND EFFECTIVENESS; FURTHER EVALUATION WILL UTILIZE STATE-OF-THE-ART RESPONSE CODES.