Experimental Studies Of Stress Wave Propagation In Earth Media

The response of several geologic materials to explosively induced spherical shock waves has been studied. Measurements made include stress, particle velocity, and strain gauge time histories at stress levels from 10 to 150 kbars. The influence of water content and cracks was also studied. Gas-gun impact experiments employing oblique target and impactor design have demonstrated the feasibility of studying the propagation of shear waves in plane geometry. (Author).