An experimental study was conducted to measure the magnitude of sidewall friction losses in 2- and 4-foot-deep, 4-foot-diameter, statically and dynamically loaded small blast load generator sand and clay specimens. An additional goal of the study was to reduce these losses if possible through the use of expendable greased liners. Literature concerning previous experimental and theoretical work on wall friction was reviewed, and a limited test series was conducted. The magnitudes of static wall friction losses in unlined sand and clay specimens were found to be compatible with theoretical computations for wall friction losses in deep circular bins. (Author).

The general objective of the investigation was to study experimentally the behavior to failure of flexible, horizontally oriented cylinders buried at various depths in dense, dry sand and subjected to either static or dynamic surface overpressures. Static and dynamic tests were conducted on 33 different cylinders, fabricated of high-yield-strength aluminum. Results indicated that collapse of the cylinders occurred while the strains in the cylinder walls were still in the elastic range. The cylinders buried at the shallow depths (zero to one-half cylinder diameter above the crown) collapsed by a catastrophic snap-through or caving of the crown. For the cylinders buried at depths of three-quarters to two cylinder diameters above the crown, the mode of collapse was an instantaneous elastic buckle that occurred at the spring line or invert of the cylinder. The collapse mode of the cylinders under dynamic overpressure was similar to that of the cylinders collapsing under static overpressure. The results of the investigation verified the applicability of an equation for predicting the static collapse overpressure for smooth-walled, horizontally oriented, buried cylindrical structures and entranceways. The hoop-compression theory was found to be applicable for analyzing the structural design to determine if the cylinder would collapse in the elastic range. (Author).

A combined analytical/experimental study entitled 'Canister-Backfill-Medium Interaction' (CBMI) was conducted to investigate the effects of backfilling procedures on the response of ground motion instruments located in instrumentation boreholes during wave propagation experiments. The experimental portion was conducted by the U.S. Army Engineer Waterways Experiment Station (WES) and is reported herein. A companion analytical study was conducted by Agbabian Associates (AA), El Segundo, California. The analytical study attempted to calculate the measured motion-time histories by use of input load functions and material properties data. Results of the analytical effort are discussed in a separate report published by AA.

Outrunning ground shock data from the 100- to 10-psi overpressure decade in six large surface high explosive (HE) tests, three from a rock site and three from a glaciated soil site, were analyzed for the effect of gross changes in constitutive properties. Axisymmetric wave propagation code calculations in layered linear and nonlinear (incrementally elastic-plastic) media were performed to determine the effects of introducing nonlinearity, selected material property variations, and the relative importance of airblast and direct induced effects from surface explosions in the overpressure decade of interest.