The capability of the Naval Applied Science Laboratory for direct simulation of thermal effects due to nuclear weapons has been extended to low yield devices [as small as 10 kilotons (kt)] by the installation of a high performance servo‐driven shutter in a carbon arc imaging furnace. The system can simulate thermal radiation pulses from atmospheric detonations with yields of from 10 kt to the largest devices. It can deliver a maximum irradiance of 190 J cm−2 sec−1 over an effective spot diameter (irradiance at least 90% of maximum) of approximately 17 mm using a single ellipsoidal mirror. With the addition of a second mirror, a maximum irradiance of over 850 J cm−2 sec−1 can be obtained with an effective spot diameter of about 4 mm. Arbitrary pulse shapes can also be delivered. Provision is made to record irradiance histories and source characteristics during each exposure without appreciably interfering with sample irradiation.

Topics
Thermal instruments, Thermodynamic states and processes, Nuclear weapons, Chemical elements, Computational fluid dynamics
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© 1967 The American Institute of Physics.
1967
The American Institute of Physics
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