The Design, Analysis, Testing, and Use of a Small Confinement Vessel for Material Shock Physics Experiments

This paper describes the design, supporting analyses, fabrication, acceptance testing, and deployment of the Small Experiment Confinement Vessel (SECV). The vessel is used in a radiographic imaging facility for confining shock physics experiments where materials are driven to extreme loading conditions by the detonation of high explosives. The SECV provides an inexpensive means for confining a small shock physics experiment primarily due to its relatively simple design as compared to other confinement vessels. The main function of the SECV is to protect the nearby diagnostic equipment from damage by materials of the dynamic experiment. The vessel has been designed to the criteria of the ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code, Section VIII, Division 3, Code Case 2564, with the exception of the materials of construction. The SECV is intended for reuse, with the total number of firings for any one vessel structure being primarily dependent on the accumulated wall damage. The main body of the SECV is made of pipe material per the American Petroleum Institute standard ANSI/API 5L. Machined end flange weldments are joined to the pipe body to enable the closure covers to be bolted to the body. The closure covers have various devices mounted to them, for example a manually actuated valve for venting the vessel interior of detonation gasses, and feed through devices for sending electrical and optical signals across the pressure boundary.