The report describes a definitive experimental study in which shock-induced square-wave pulses in soil were observed to give way to decaying pulse shapes, as in a gas shock tube, and rapid attenuation of peak stress occurred thereafter due to nonlinear propagation in the rarefaction. In the study three different duration pulses were applied to an 8-ft vertical column of granular material confined under boundary conditions leading to a stress-strain (Sigma - Epsilon) behavior described by d to the 2nd power Sigma/d Epsilon to the 2nd power> 0, i.e., a strain-hardening type of response. Applied stresses ranged from 50 to 500 psi. The report describes a simple modification to be applied to the prediction procedure described in the first report of this series in order to take into account, to a first approximation, the nonlinear propagation of unloading waves that occurs in real media because of nonlinear stress-strain behavior in the unloading branch. The procedure which predicts stress and motion histories based on the conservation laws, a measured constitutive relationship, and the applied pressure-time profile, is demonstrated by predicting the entire sequence of an experimentally observed square-wave pulse transformation into a decaying pulse. (Author).

The report demonstrates procedures for computing stress and motion histories in soil. Simplified geometries are employed. The procedures have application to analysis of nuclear weapon loadings. The methods are based on the conservation laws of mass and momentum and dynamic material properties in the form of propagation velocities characteristic of shock waves in the compacting medium and sound waves in the compacted medium. The procedures deal with soil models composed of all nonlinear loading branch forms for which stress-strain (sigma-epsilon) behavior is described by the relationship the 2nd derivative Sigma with respect to epsilon> 0 (strain-hardening type of response) and all linear unloading branch forms. Input data required consists of laboratory uniaxial (constrained) compression or wave-propagation test data and an applied pressure-time profile. The procedure has been validated by comparison with closed-form solutions and applied to analyze test data in the literature obtained from laboratory and field. Application of the procedure to other than one-dimensional problems is indicated (e.g., a HEST test is analyzed). (Author).

The report demonstrates procedures for computing stress and motion histories in soil. Simplified geometries are employed. The procedures have application to analysis of nuclear weapon loadings. The methods are based on the conservation laws of mass and momentum and dynamic material properties in the form of propagation velocities characteristic of shock waves in the compacting medium and sound waves in the compacted medium. The procedures deal with soil models composed of all nonlinear loading branch forms for which stress-strain (sigma-epsilon) behavior is described by the relationship the 2nd derivative Sigma with respect to epsilon> 0 (strain-hardening type of response) and all linear unloading branch forms. Input data required consists of laboratory uniaxial (constrained) compression or wave-propagation test data and an applied pressure-time profile. The procedure has been validated by comparison with closed-form solutions and applied to analyze test data in the literature obtained from laboratory and field. Application of the procedure to other than one-dimensional problems is indicated (e.g., a HEST test is analyzed). (Author).