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Due to the complicated nature of many of the problems associated with weapons effects and to the moratorium on full-scale nuclear weapon tests, it was necessary to develop other means of obtaining needed experimental data; hence, laboratory facilities were developed to simulate the various effects associated with the detonation of a nuclear device. After a considerable amount of planning and effort, one such laboratory facility, the Blast Load Generator, was developed at the U. S. Army Engineer Waterways Experiment Station (WES). Recently the Blast Load Generator facility has been used to investigate the response of reinforced concrete slabs subjected to airblast loading.

A numerical analysis of a clamped circular rigid-plastic plate subjected to a uniformly distributed blast load with an arbitrary time history is presented. It is further shown that there exists a correlation between cases with different pressure-time histories. This correlation is used to reduce the case of an arbitrary pulse to that of a rectangular one for which the solution is known from the literature.

The objective of the program was to determine if a large metal shipping contaier would provide a sufficient degree of protection from simulated nuclear weapon blast effects to make it suitable as a small protective shelter. The report describes the tests of two Container Express (CONEX) containers that were instrumented and subjected to blast loads in the Large Blast Load Generator (LBLG) facility at the U. S. Army Engineer Waterways Experiment Station. (Author)

An underground reinforced-concrete family shelter designed for six persons was tested at three anticipated nuclear blast overpressures: 30, 48, and 65 psi. The structures were calculated to sustain a 30-psi long-duration overpressure. Postshot examination of all shelters lndicated there was little or no deflection in the reinforced-concrete members. Although the actual blast load was of short duration, the natural period for the structures was also shortp therefore it is felt that the structures would withstand similar overpressures from long-duration blast loadings. The average attenuation factor for gamma radiation varied from 3000 to 4500. Permanent damage was confined to the exposed portions of the ventilation pipes, which were bent to a nearly horizontal position. The steel-plate door at the 65-psi level was dished inward about 1 1/4 in., but it opened and closed easily. (authl

The objective of this investigation was to study experimentally the elastic behavior of horizontally oriented, stiff cylinders buried at shallow depths in dense, dry sand and subjected to static surface overpressures. Static tests were conducted on nine different cylinders in the U.S. Army Engineer Waterways Experiment Station's Small (4-foot-diameter) Blast Load Generator (SBLG). The cylinders were fabricated from steel mechanical tubing having a 6- inch outside diameter and a specially isolated 12-inch-long test section. The nine test specimens comprised three groups of cylinders with wall thicknesses of 1/8, 1/4, and 3/8 inch that corresponded to stiffnesses (EI/R3) of 170, 1,644, and 5,926 psi, respectively. In order to study the effects of burial depth, the first, second, and third cylinders of each group were tested at depths of 3, 6, and 9 inches, respectively. A total of 14 static tests were conducted, 9 on virgin soil samples and 5 on samples that had been previously loaded. The peak surface overpressure attained for all tests was approximately 1,000 psi. Measurements were made of cylinder hoop strain, vertical diameter change, soil stress, and surface overpressure.