ANALYSIS OF THE SOURCE PHYSICS EXPERIMENT SPE4 PRIME USING STATE-OF-THE-ART PARALLEL NUMERICAL TOOLS.

Abstract:

This work describes a methodology used for large scale modeling of wave propagation from underground chemical explosions conducted at the Nevada National Security Site (NNSS) fractured granitic rock. We show that the discrete natures of rock masses as well as the spatial variability of the fabric of rock properties are very important to understand ground motions induced by underground explosions. In order to build a credible conceptual model of the subsurface we integrated the geological, geomechanical and geophysical characterizations conducted during recent test at the NNSS as well as historical data from the characterization during the underground nuclear test conducted at the NNSS. Because detailed site characterization is limited, expensive and, in some instances, impossible we have numerically investigated the effects of the characterization gaps on the overall response of the system. We performed several computational studies to identify the key important geologic features specific to fractured media mainly the joints characterized at the NNSS. We have also explored common key features to both geological environments such as saturation and topography and assess which characteristics affect the most the ground motion in the near-field and in the far-field. Stochastic representation of these features based on the field characterizations has been implemented into LLNL’s Geodyn-L hydrocode. Simulations were used to guide site characterization efforts in order to provide the essential data to the modeling community. We validate our computational results by comparing the measured and computed ground motion at various ranges for the recently executed SPE4 prime experiment. We have also conducted a comparative study between SPE4 prime and previous experiments SPE1 and SPE3 to assess similarities and differences and draw conclusions on designing SPE5.