Embedded Continuum Codes in Vulnerability Assessments

Targets designed to withstand the effects of conventional (nonnuclear) munitions are assessed using standard vulnerability assessment methods. These assessment tools usually consider variabilities in site characteristics, target attributes like strength and stiffness, and weapon delivery charactenstics. Current vulnerability procedures are overly conservative in that, to ensure high confidence in sustaining the facilities' mission, they presume a "worst-case scenano" in the use of values for target strength or weapon CEP. The problem is compounded by the fact that the loading on a target is caused by a weapon environment whose effects on the target are highly variable, and where significant changes in some parameters can require a complete change in the vulnerability model. Our Phase I research objective is to demonstrate the powerful capabilities of an object-oriented framework approach, by building a software environment to conduct embedded simulation exercises for assessment. We will demonstrate the software environment by implementing into our framework two or three simple existing two-dimensional continuuncodes running on a single hardware architecture and integmted with one or two simple vulnerability codes .