Use of Large Cavities to Reduce Seismic Waves from Underground Explosions. Final Report PDF Download

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This report analyzes an experiment designed to test the theory of seismic decoupling of underground explosives proposed by Latter LeLevier, Martinelli, and McMillan STA1959!. The theory calculates the amplitude of a l.7- kt nuclear explosive in a hole in salt and compares it to the measured value of the 1.7-kt Rainier shot in tuff at the same distance. A decoupling factor of about 300 resulted. The experiment, called Cowboy, was designed to test the decoupling principle by carrying out a series of eight highexplosive shots in two spheres made in a salt dome and nine tamped shots for comparison purposes. The seismic data reported were obtained primarily at 14,000 and 22,000 ft from the shot at frequencies of lO to 30 cps. A salt-to-salt decoupling factor of 100 was obtained which is consistent with the predicted 300 tuff-to-salt factor. When the sphere was over-driven so that the walls did not move elastically (a condition which violates the theory), decoupling factors of 10 and 30 were measured. The report interprets the seismic data to give the dependence of decoupling on the varions parameters of the experiment. The decoupling deduced from measurements made 80 ft from the shot points is found to be oonsistent with teat deduced from the measurements at 14,000 and 12,000 ft. (auth).