A -- Office of Naval Research Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) for Payload Implosion and Platform Damage Prediction and Validation

Office of Naval Research (ONR)Broad Agency Announcement (BAA)for Payload Implosion and Platform Damage Prediction and Validation Implosion is the sudden inward collapse of a pressure resistant structure. For example, a submerged pressure housing with an internal pressure well below the ambient sea pressure may fail due to the external pressure. Following the collapse, a strong pressure wave is radiated into the surrounding fluid. This pressure wave depends sensitively on the exact form of the collapse. The resulting energetic pressure pulse can potentially damage nearby structures. The Navy requires an improved capability to design and qualify submarine external payloads for implosion avoidance and platform survivability. Validated, user-friendly tools are required that enable the designer to predict implosion effects, especially the magnitude of the resulting shock waves: In particular, the Navy needs 1) a parametric payload design tool for conventional payloads, and 2) a physics-based model for complex analyses. This requires both algorithm and software development, and carefully controlled measurements to validate the software.