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A containment and confinement pressure vessel system is under development to expand the capability to perform small explosively driven physics experiments at the Proton Radiography facility at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). Two barriers of this vessel system are the Inner Pressure Confinement Vessel (IPCV) and the Outer Pressure Containment Vessel (OPCV). To achieve high spatial resolution of proton images, radiographic windows (covers) of the Inner Vessel are located extremely close to the experiment containing high explosive (HE). While the Inner Vessel is designed to meet the ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code, Section VIII, Division 3, Code Case 2564 criteria, the small separation between the explosive and the pressure-retaining boundary presents a unique requirement for designing dynamically loaded vessels. We present numerical simulations of HE detonation in the Inner Vessel for several HE configurations. Eularian hydrodynamic code is used to calculate pressure-time history on the inner vessel surface. The pressure-time loading is then imported into a Langrangian structural model, and high-fidelity structural dynamic simulations are performed to obtain stress and strain as functions of time. Simulations are compared against experimental measurements from dynamic testing. Dynamic experiments are conducted in a low-fidelity (LoFi) vessel prototype, to measure the pressure and strain in regions of interest in different vessel locations (body, radiographic windows, covers).

A containment system is being developed to expand the capability of proton radiography of small-scale shock physics experiments at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). The detonation of high explosives (HE) drives materials to extreme loading conditions, which are imaged using a proton beam and an imaging system. A qualified confinement and containment boundary needs to exist between a high-explosive experiment and the environment, and is comprised of the Inner Pressure Confinement Vessel (IPCV) and the Outer Pressure Containment Vessel (OPCV). The Inner Vessel is designed to the criteria of the ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code, Section VIII, Division 3, Code Case 2564. The vessel contains an Experimental Physics Package, fragment mitigation structure, and radiographic windows. The windows need to minimize radiographic blur contribution (thin, radiographically transparent material such as Beryllium) over the field of view for imaging, but also need to maintain the pressure boundary during and after the dynamic event. Further, the vessel covers need to seal before, during, and after the experiment . In addition, the covers have miscellaneous feedthroughs, to enable high-voltage signal (for HE detonator), instrumentation and control signals (e.g. valves, pressure and vacuum gauge, optical fibers). We present the preliminary design, analyses, and testing of the Inner Vessel components.

A unique containment and confinement system is under development to conduct small explosively driven physics experiments containing hazardous materials at the Proton Radiography facility at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). In these experiments, the detonation of high explosives (HE) is used to drive materials to extreme loading conditions, where some of the materials tested can be extremely hazardous (e.g. nuclear materials). The main components of the system are the Inner Pressure Confinement Vessel (IPCV, which hosts the physics experiment), the Outer Pressure Containment Vessel (OPCV) and Beam Pipes and Auxiliary Hardware (BPAH). This paper describes the design and preliminary analyses of the IPCV. The body of the IPCV, also referred to as the Inner Vessel, is being designed to the criteria of the ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code, Section VIII, Division 3, Code Case 2564, with the exception of the materials of construction. The closure covers have different devices mounted on them, such as feedthrough devices for sending or receiving electrical and optical signals across the pressure boundary, and valves for venting the vessel interior. The unique feature in the vessel design are the radiographic windows, tentatively made of Beryllium, which need to be strong enough to maintain the pressure boundary during dynamic events, while being radiographically low-attenuating for the purpose of proton imaging.