Application of Bakhtar Empirical Model to Performance Optimization of Underground Munitions Storage Structures

摘要

The hazardous effects associated with accidental detonation of munitions storage magazines is significantly reduced by storing explosives in chambers or magazines constructed below the ground surface. With the growth of population and encroachment of civilian neighborhoods onto military sites, the requirements for risk assessment and performance prediction of explosive storage magazines become more stringent. The market for this technology includes DOD and contractors laboratories in the United States and overseas and other organizations that store explosives. To meet the safety and the quantity- distance requirements, empirical and numerical models are needed for prediction of magazine performance for a given loading density. The method must account for the site-specific characteristics of the ground as well as those of the structural components. Innovative approaches are needed for optimization of loading density, estimation of depth of cover, and calculation of pillar thickness between adjacent magazines to prevent communication in case of accidental detonation in one chamber. The Bakhtar Empirical Models (BEM) for prediction of hazardous fragment range and quantity-distance around underground magazines were presented in the previous DDESB Seminar in 1996. In this paper, application of BEM to performance assessment of underground munitions storage structures is elaborated upon. Emphasis is directed towards optimization of loading density, estimation of depth of cover, and calculation of pillar thickness between adjacent magazines to render the facility non-responsive. Finally, a generalized approach for performance prediction of a non-responding underground magazine is discussed.