China
Africa
Explore chapters and articles related to this topic
Selected High-Energy Photon Applications
Published in Harry E. Martz, Clint M. Logan, Daniel J. Schneberk, Peter J. Shull, X-Ray Imaging, 2016
Harry E. Martz, Clint M. Logan, Daniel J. Schneberk, Peter J. Shull
Nondestructive testing of military ordnance is carried out to ensure that the ordnance will perform safely and as expected. Military ordnance is a broad term that includes conventional warheads, rocket motors, gun ammunition, propelling charges, cartridge-actuated devices (CADs), propellant-actuated devices (PADs), and their components. One thing common to all ordnances is that they contain explosives. DR, CT, and tomosynthesis are used at various stages of the life of the ordnance. After military ordnances are built, NDC techniques are used to inspect for flaws in the final build. This reduces the possibility that an unsafe or malfunctioning ordnance will reach the stockpile. As the ordnance ages over time, NDC is used on a small sampling of items in the field to help determine the effects of aging on the safety and operation of the ordnance. If there is a malfunction in the field, nondestructive techniques can be used to determine the cause. The inspections can include a small sampling for nonsafety malfunctions (see WDU-17/B example in Section 16.4.10.1) to 100% screening of all ordnances for safety issues (see the 40 mm grenade example in Section 16.3.1). Below are NDC examples for a few different military ordnances.
Applying User-Centered Design to U.S. Military Acquisition Requests
Published in International Journal of Human–Computer Interaction, 2023
I sought representative users from a large USMC base in the continental U.S. through recruitment emails. The test sessions were held in an office at a local military command over the course of six weeks. The users varied in age, gender, rank, job, and experience. The majority of the users were 25-34 years of age (50%), followed by the 35-44 (41.7%), and 45+ (8.3%) age categories. I tested ten male (83.3%) and two female (16.7%) participants. The users represented seven different USMC ranks with five enlisted (41.6%) and seven officers (58.3%), four Field Grade and three Company Grade respectively. They worked in eleven different job categories, called Military Occupational Specialty (MOS) positions, from eight occupational fields (United States Marine Corps, 2017b): Administration, Ammunition and Explosive Ordnance Disposal, Artillery, Engineer, Construction, Facilities, & Equipment, Ground Electronics Maintenance, Infantry, Intelligence, and Tank and Assault Amphibious Vehicle. All users had at least five years in the Marine Corps with ranges from 5 to 10 years (33.3%), 11 to 15 years (33.3%), and 15+ years (33.3); users represented a combined 167 years of Marine Corps service. While eights users had at least heard of the UNS (66.7%), only two users (16.7%) had ever completed or helped to complete, a UNS.
The transfer and exploitation of German air-to-air rocket and guided missile technology by the Western Allies after World War II
Published in The International Journal for the History of Engineering & Technology, 2020
The US Navy also acquired its fair share of German artefacts. One X-4 prototype was sent to the Applied Physics Laboratory at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland (which was under contract to the US Navy Bureau of Ordnance (BuOrd) to carry out research and development of SAM technology) for analysis; parts of the missile were also analysed at a number of other laboratories around the country.60 The US Navy Bureau of Aeronautics (BuAer) set up a project at the Naval Air Missiles Test Center at Point Mugu in California to test German LPREs that were brought back by the US Naval Technical Mission in Europe, primarily for familiarisation and educational purposes.61 Progress in testing the German technology was slow however; by the end of June 1947 no German LPREs had been tested because a lack of staff delayed the work.62 Eventually, three BMW nitric acid LPREs plus two HWK hydrogen peroxide LPREs were tested at the installation.
Manhattan Project: The Story of the Century, by Bruce Cameron Reed. Springer Nature Switzerland AG, 2020,
Published in Technometrics, 2022
Pre-detonation characteristics were studied, the problem of uranium or plutonium premature alpha-decay by neutron bombardment was solved with help of devices called initiators filled with polonium and beryllium within the bomb core, carried out by chemists and metallurgists Ch. Thomas and C. Smith, and the problem of spontaneous fission was cracked as well. Responsibility for the design, engineering, drop tests, and assembly of the uranium gun bomb lay with the Gun Group of the Ordnance Division, directed by A.F. Birch. The final Little Boy bomb was 10 feet long, 28 inches in diameter, and weighed about 9700 lb, the gun barrel itself was six feet long and weighed 1000 lb. A more efficient spherical weapon of plutonium bomb with inward initial implosion crushing the radioactive core to critical density was suggested by S. Neddermeyer who estimated the needed critical size and weight. With help of famous mathematician J. von Neumann who analyzed shaped-charged explosives, explosive expertise by G. Kistiakowsky, R. Christy, L. Alvarez, D. Hornig, J. Tuck from British Mission, and many other specialists, the progress was reached in building the Trinity and Fat Man devices. The bomb was a hand-assembled three-dimensional jigsaw puzzle with explosive pieces precisely fit together, with total weight above 10,000 lb, and the high-explosive assembly alone just over half of the weight. The first full-scale experimental test on Trinity plutonium bomb explosion was performed at Alamogordo Army Air Field located at 160 miles from Los Alamos, on July 16, 1945, and this dramatic event is recalled in many observers’ memoirs.