Call number: LD2668 .T4 1964 P89 / Master of Science

Master of Science / Department of Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering / William L. Dunn / Improvised explosives devices (IEDs) are the cause of many casualties worldwide. Current methods for detecting IEDs are insufficient. A signature-based scanning technique based upon the fact that explosives consist primarily of hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, and carbon is examined as a possible rapid, standoff method for detecting IEDs. Devices employing this method rely on a template-matching technique in which the detector responses acquired through neutron and photon interrogation are compared to responses from a known explosive. A figure-of-merit is calculated to determine how well the template and the unknown match. This thesis explores the feasibility of employing the neutron interrogation aspect of this method.

No description available.

Title: Influence of body composition on explosive power of elite judokas Objectives: The main aim of the thesis is to discover whether the body composition effects the explosive power of elite judokas. The work also depicts the development of the explosive power during training and describes how to measure and compare the explosive power in upper limbs of a selected group of professional judo fighters within a general and specific exercise. Another aim of the thesis is to determine which weight categories are characterized by the biggest explosive power in upper limbs and whether this power mounts with the increasing weight category. Methods: The thesis has an empirical and theoreticalcharacter. Methods of data collecting, analysis of technical literature in the field of general sports preparation and judo training were used for the research. For the evaluation, the basic statistic methods and Spearman correlative coefficient were applied. Results: The results of the thesis point out the fact that the explosive power doesn't depend on the amount of active substance in the body of a contestant. The best results in the amount of explosive power from the testing exercises were achieved by the individuals within the weight category up to 90 kg, 81 kg and 100 kg. It has also been affirmed that the...

Contamination of soils by munitions constituents is pervasive on Department of Defense operational ranges. Low-order detonations result in the heterogeneous distribution of explosives residues (ER) at shallow depths. At a limited number of ranges ER contamination of groundwater has been observed. Previous studies have shown that the downward migration of colloid-sized contaminants can significantly impact groundwater quality. The goal of this study was to investigate if colloid transport plays a role in the migration of ER contaminants. Our primary objective was to determine the transport potential of fine (<5>um) ER particles under ideal conditions for colloid transport. A secondary objective was to develop a direct detection method for the identification and quantitative analysis of particulate ER. A series of saturated transport experiments were conducted in columns (2x20 cm) packed with clean sand. 2,6- Dinitrotoluene was used as a surrogate for explosives chemicals. Experiments were conducted with both particulate and dissolved-phase DNT. Bromide and microspheres tracers were also used to characterize nonreactive transport. Particulate tracers were applied to the columns, either suspended in the influent solution, or directly to the top layer of sand, in order to more realistically replicate field conditions. Experimental results indicate that DNT movement through the columns occurred as a combination of solid and dissolved phase transport. Concentration differences between unfiltered and filtered samples indicate that particulate DNT accounted up to 30% of the total mass recovered in the effluent.

There is no abstract available for this thesis.

As the information age comes to fruition, terrorist networks have moved mainstream by promoting their causes via the World Wide Web. In addition to their standard rhetoric, these organizations provide anyone with an Internet connection the ability to access dangerous information involving the creation and implementation of Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs). Unfortunately for governments combating terrorism, IED education networks can be very difficult to find and even harder to monitor. Regular commercial search engines are not up to this task, as they have been optimized to catalog information quickly and efficiently for user ease of access while promoting retail commerce at the same time. This thesis presents a performance analysis of a new search engine algorithm designed to help find IED education networks using the Nutch open-source search engine architecture. It reveals which web pages are more important via references from other web pages regardless of domain. In addition, this thesis discusses potential evaluation and monitoring techniques to be used in conjunction with the proposed algorithm.

Thesis (M Eng (Research)) -- University of South Australia, 1992

Abstract DEM (Distinct Element Method) models have found numerous applications in a number of engineering disciplines, such as material handling and transport, chemical, industrial, civil, mining and mineral processing. The thesis describes developments using PFC3D (Particle Flow Code in 3D) for simulating rock fragmentation by commercial explosives. Emphasis is on the realistic simulation of explosive detonation in the blasthole as well as the flow of explosive gas from the blasthole, through the fracture network and venting to the atmosphere. Detonation can be initialized at any point along discretized blastholes and proceed up or down the hole according to the Velocity of Detonation of the explosive. Each of the explosive properties (pressure, density, extent of reaction, energy and their time derivatives) is computed according to the conservation equations and the explosive equation of state at any point along the hole. At initiation, the product calculation begins at the sonic locus with input of the detonation product provided by the non-ideal detonation code Vixen-n. The Taylor wave is then computed as a function of the blasthole expansion, which depends on the rock mass response to loading. The explosive gas is treated as a non-steady, compressible fluid and can flow through an arbitrary and evolving fracture network developed in the rock mass as a function of explosive loading. The fracture network (and flow paths) is defined by the coalescence of discrete macro-cracks. The gas has the effect of draining the blasthole and loading the fracture surface by its pressure and drag forces. Fracture intersection with free-surfaces is monitored and venting to the atmosphere is allowed. Validation of the fluid flow scheme is performed by comparing numeric results to analytic solutions for flow in shock tubes. The complete model is demonstrated by simulating stress only models, gas flow models and complete models of field-scale blasts.

Thesis (M.S.)--Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 1993. / Vita. Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 56-59). Also available via the Internet.