wrf@mab.ecse.rpi.edu (Wm Randolph Franklin) (11/07/90)
From: wrf@mab.ecse.rpi.edu (Wm Randolph Franklin) There was an objection to my statement that you couldn't compress bomb components under water fast enough for an explosion. Of course water can transmit a pressure wave. However I really doubt that as the pieces of U or Pu are coming together they can push the water in front of them out of the way without slowing down. Slowing down would cause a squib. The same objection would apply to any conventional focused explosive. It wouldn't seem that its shock wave could focus properly in water. If the bomb were in a pressure container so that the components could come together in a vacuum or at most a low pressure gas then the above doesn't apply. That didn't seem to be the case in the movie. P.s. one of the neat things about the Progressive case was how much you could guess from such a little input. At one point a judge classified certain underlinings in an encyclopedia article on comets. What do comets have to do with H-bombs? Aha! They used to think that comets' tails were swept back by light pressure. So one classified H-bomb principle must be radiation pressure! I think that one thing that enhances the radiation pressure effect is that the outer coating of U238 is many thin layers. As each layer vaporizes from the radiation it doesn't reflect, the next layer becomes available. This is an interesting contrast to the proper design of armor plate, where one thick sheet is better. Another enhancement is that the U238 may form an ellipsoid with the fission bomb at one focus and the D-T at the other. Not sure about the details, though. -- Wm. Randolph Franklin Internet: wrf@ecse.rpi.edu (or @cs.rpi.edu) Bitnet: Wrfrankl@Rpitsmts Telephone: (518) 276-6077; Telex: 6716050 RPI TROU; Fax: (518) 276-6261 Paper: ECSE Dept., 6026 JEC, Rensselaer Polytechnic Inst, Troy NY, 12180