ABSTRACT

INTRODUCTION

Understanding and modeling seismic wave propagation from nuclear explosions require information on the behavior of rocks in the source region under appropriate loading conditions. Within the source region the rocks are loaded in uniaxial strain; during unloading damage occurs, permanently altering the rocks. Rock properties measured at the laboratory scale constrain the models. Static and dynamic elastic moduli and attenuation as a function of mean stress and strain amplitude are incorporated into forward models to determine particle velocity and displacements and time histories in the nearfield.

An underground nuclear explosion in granite was detonated near Semipalatinsk as part of a Joint Verification Experiment with the USSR. In order to model the range of possible responses and further our understanding of the relationship between static and dynamic moduli, a suite of experiments was performed on five granites representative of the source region.

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