AIR BLAST RESPONSE OF LOW DRAG SHAPE LAUNCHER VEHICLES

THE PROPOSED RESEARCH ADDRESSES METHODS OF INCREASING THE BLAST HARDNESS OF MOBILE LAUNCH VEHICLES BY THE REDUCTION OF THE DRAG AND LIFT DURING THE DRAG PHASE OF BLAST LOADING. THE WORK WILL DEVELOP MOBILE LAUNCH VEHICLE SECTION PROFILES WHICH REDUCE THE DRAG AND LIFT COEFFICIENTS WITHOUT INCREASING THE DIFFRACTION PHASE BLAST LOADS. THE PROFILES WILL BE DEVELOPED BASED ON EXISTING KNOWLEDGE GLEANED FROM A LARGE DATA BASE OF SHOCK TUBE, FIELD TEST, AND WIND TUNNEL TEST DATA AS WELL AS THEORETICAL ANALYSIS. PROVEN BLAST LOADING CODES AND BLAST RESPONSE CODES WILL BE EMPLOYED TO CALCULATE THE BLAST RESPONSE OF THE DEVELOPED SECTION PROFILES THROUGH AN OVERPRESSURE RANGE EXTENDING TO 150 PSI. MOST EXISTING LAUNCH VEHICLE SHOCK TUBE AND FIELD TEST DATA WAS OBTAINED AT OVERPRESSURE LEVELS LESS THAN 100 PSI. THIS DATA WILL BE USED TO VALIDATE THE BLAST LOADING AND RESPONSE CODES. LOADS AND RESPONSES FOR THE NEWLY DEVELOPED PROFILES WILL BE CALCULATED THROUGH BOTH THE OVERPRESSURE RANGES OF THE TEST DATA AS WELL AS THE HIGH OVERPRESSURES. COMPARISONS OF THE RESULTS WITH THE EXISTING DATA BASE WILL ENSURE THE RATIONALITY OF THE RESULTS. INCREASING THE BLAST HARDNESS OF MOBILE LAUNCH VEHICLES WILL LEAD DIRECTLY TO HIGHER LAUNCH VEHICLE SURVIVAL RATES AND A DECREASE IN THE REQUIRED DEPLOYMENT AREA. FEWER VEHICLES, COUPLED WITH SMALLER DEPLOYMENT AREAS, WILL RESULT IN A SUBSTANTIALLY REDUCED SYSTEM COST. COMMERCIAL APPLICATION IS MORE REMOTE; THE RESULTS COULD LEAD TO VAN AND TRACTOR-TRAILER DESIGNS WITH LESS SIDE LOAD SENSITIVITY AND REDUCED FORWARD DRAG.