Understanding the Risk of Ammunition Kickout from Explosion-Suppressive Structures

The mission of the U.S. Army Combat Systems Test Activity (USACSTA or CSTA), Aberdeen Proving Ground (APG), MD, includes the evaluation of large caliber weapons. As these weapons increase in size, so does the danger associated with testing them. The availability of land for large caliber firing rang...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Shipe, Richard B
Format: Report
Language:English
Subjects:
ACCIDENTS
AMMUNITION
AMMUNITION KICKOUT
DETONATIONS
Explosions
EXPLOSIVES
FAULT TREES
HAZARDS
RISK ANALYSIS
SAFETY
SYMPOSIA
TEST FACILITIES
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Summary:The mission of the U.S. Army Combat Systems Test Activity (USACSTA or CSTA), Aberdeen Proving Ground (APG), MD, includes the evaluation of large caliber weapons. As these weapons increase in size, so does the danger associated with testing them. The availability of land for large caliber firing ranges is decreasing. Because of that unavailability, incompatible operations are often conducted contiguously. In such cases, personnel and facilities are exposed to the dangers associated with weapons testing. happen in a test structure, but it is a very unlikely occurrence. For an accident to occur, a complex sequence of events must happen. If that sequence is explicitly identified, then it can be controlled. By controlling selected hazards, the risk (risk is the expected value of an event 01 accident) can be reduced. If it has been reduced to an acceptable degree, the requirements applied to the design and subsequent operation of any facility can be relaxed. There is no guarantee an explosive accident will never Because of the high cost of constructing weapons test facilities, alternatives must be designed in the context of the risks associated with such testing. Using System Safety techniques, those risks can be identified and modeled. This paper suggests a model from which can be derived safe and cost-effective construction, design and operating alternatives for weapons testing facilities. See also ADA235006, Volume 2. Minutes of the Explosives Safety Seminar (24th) Held in St. Louis, MO on 28-30 August 1990, p1433-1448.