Award Data

"Measurements of fluence from a Plasma Radiation Source (PRS) are critical to the performance of accurate Nuclear Weapon Effects (NWE) experiments. Fast, total stopping calorimeters have been demonstrated to provide a robust, reusable, economic sensor forfluence measurements. However, the output of these sensors is a few millivolts and thus high signal to noise recording is difficult to achieve, ...

The task of computationally simulating the dispersion and/or neutralization of toxic chemical/biological (CB) agents, released from weapons of mass destruction (WMD), puts a very high demand on the capability of current generation computational dynamics (CFD) codes. Current advanced computational tools for WMD threat simulation fail to address the necessary physics, do not incorporate emerging com ...

Nuclear weapons effects simulators depend upon capacitor banks for storage and delivery of energy for the radiation sources. Power conditioning elements are typically located in the power flow chain between the storage capacitors and the radiation sources, and these elements generally constitute a major portion of the overall cost of the simulator facility. Low inductance capacitors offer the po ...

Penetrating radiation holds the greatest promise as a non-intrusive means of destroying biological and chemical agents inside sealed containers, if the appropriate form is used. There are two recognized means including exposure to neutrons or application of pulses of gamma rays. Because of the pervasiveness of neutrons and the extremely large threat of collateral damage to humans, neutrons are onl ...

Science based assessments of the response of systems and material to hostile nuclear environments require detailed verified material response and failure criteria for confident results. Consequently there is a need for the development of experimentaltechniques to measure low pressure equation of state parameters accurately and economically using radiation simulators. The development of a soft x- ...

This proposed work will generate a targeted phosphate ester hydrolysis catalyst for agent denial. This catalyst will be targeted by conjugation to single stranded DNA. Characteristics of the catalyst will be determined, including ruggedness, targeting selectivity, and potential methods for deployment.

Upon successful completion of the proposed program, an accelerant payload concept shall be developed and evaluated. The use of an accelerant payload allows the munitions system designer the capability to exploit a thermal target defeat mechanism, inaddition to coupling to traditional high explosive/fragmentation defeat mechanisms, to increase the overall target lethality. The use of a thermal ac ...

Present reflex triode (RT) design performance is limited by debris shield response. The shield designs were derived empirically to satisfy specific experiment requirements. Optimizing the RT design will double target dose. Debris shield deformation definesthe closest permissible location of the test object and therefore determines the maximum dose achievable. The deformation of the debris shield c ...

The task of computationally simulating the dispersion and/or neutralization of toxic chemical/biological (CB) agents, released from weapons of mass destruction (WMD), puts a very high demand on the capability of current generation computational dynamics(CFD) codes. Current advanced computational tools for WMD threat simulation fail to address all the necessary physics, do not incorporate emerging ...

"Nuclear Weapons Effects Tests (NWET) frequently require that the test article be irradiated in an ultra-clean environment, making survivable shields a necessary part of many debris systems. Survivable shields as large as 12 inches in diameter are requiredbut have yet to be demonstrated in Plasma Radiating Source (PRS) environments. The loads on a survivable shield are a combination of radiation i ...