The Hydrogen Bomb,Lewis L. Strauss and the Writing of Nuclear History

In January 1950 President Harry S. Truman announced that the United States would proceed with further work to determine the feasibility of a ‘Super’, or hydrogen, bomb. The events leading up to that decision – counter-pressures and advocacy from a number of quarters, including the divided Atomic Energy Commission (AEC), the nuclear scientists, Congress and the Pentagon – is well known. Less attention has been given to how the story of the Super came to be told in official and popular publications. Admiral Lewis L. Strauss, rogue member of the AEC, later presidential adviser on atomic affairs and AEC chairman, was one of the most vigorous advocates of developing thermonuclear weapons. He was also a highly skilled player of bureaucratic politics. This article draws upon the Strauss archives to examine how he used his position and his contacts to shape the history of the H-bomb to his own political advantage.     

On the continued acceleration of bomb casing fragments following casing fracture

It has been said that, once a bomb casing has fractured, “detonation gases will then stream around the fragments or bypass them, and the acceleration process stops there.” However, while apparently copious gas flow through casing fractures indicates some pressure release, it is also an indication of significant gas drive pressure, post casing fracture. This paper shows two approaches to the problem of calculating the actual loss of drive. One presents first-order analytical calculations, in cylindrical geometry, of pressure loss to the inside surface of a fractured casing. The second shows the modelling of a selected example in the CTH code. Both approaches reveal that gas escape, while occurring at its own sound-speed relative to the adjacent casing fragments, has to compete with rapid radial expansion of the casing. Together with some historic experiments now publicly available, our calculations indicate that post-fracture casing fragment acceleration is, for most systems, unlikely to be reduced significantly.     

火炮抽筒故障机理研究

针对某自行反坦克炮射击后,抽筒时出现药筒钢底座底缘与圆柱部断裂现象这一抽筒故障,分析计算该火炮正常抽筒所需的理论抽筒力和半自动开闩机构所能提供的实际抽筒力,由此定量分析该故障的主要原因,并提出火炮实弹射击预防抽筒故障的具体措施,对半自动开闩结构设计与改进、部队装备训练与射击具有一定指导和参考价值．     

军用电子机箱模态分析及测试

对某军用电子机箱的固有频率从有限元分析和模态试验测试两个方面进行研究,并将理论分析结果和模态试验测试结果进行对比,确定了电子机箱的固有模态.为今后电子机箱的设计提供了参考依据,为仿真分析提供了有效的有限元建模方法.     

Fragment spatial distribution of prismatic casing under internal explosive loading

Non-cylindrical casings filled with explosives have undergone rapid development in warhead design and explosion control. The fragment spatial distribution of prismatic casings is more complex than that of traditional cylindrical casings. In this study, numerical and experimental investigations into the fragment spatial distribution of a prismatic casing were conducted. A new numerical method, which adds the Lagrangian marker points to the Eulerian grid, was proposed to track the multi-material interfaces and material dynamic fractures. Physical quantity mappings between the Lagrangian marker points and Eulerian grid were achieved by their topological relationship. Thereafter, the fragment spatial distributions of the prismatic casing with different fragment sizes, fragment shapes, and casing geometries were obtained using the numerical method. Moreover, fragment spatial distribution experiments were conducted on the prismatic casing with different fragment sizes and shapes, and the experimental data were compared with the numerical results. The effects of the fragment and casing geometry on the fragment spatial distributions were determined by analyzing the numerical results and experimental data. Finally, a formula including the casing geometry parameters was fitted to predict the fragment spatial distribution of the prismatic casing under internal explosive loading.