On the prediction of cavity radius produced by an underground nuclear explosion

A correlation has been developed between the cavity produced by a contained underground nuclear explosion and other variables, including explosive yield, overburden density, depth of burial, and the Young's and shear moduli. The relation obtained is rcv=21.0 W0.306E0.514ρ−2.244μ−0.576h−0.161 where rcν is cavity radius in meters, W is yield in kilotons, E and μ are Young's and shear moduli, respectively, in megabars, ρ is overburden density in grams per cubic centimeter, and h is depth of burial in meters. This equation, based on published results for 46 nuclear events, calculates cavity radius for these events with an average error of 7.8%. Some predictions by this method compare reasonably well with those by other methods for media for which there is no previous experience.