Water Hammer During An Explosion
When an explosion happens in an enclosed space, water hammer can cause the walls of the container to deform. However, it can also impart momentum to the enclosure if it is free to move. An underwater explosion in the SL-1 nuclear reactor vessel caused the water to accelerate upwards through 2.5 feet (0.76 m) of air before it struck the vessel head at 160 feet per second (49 m/s) with a pressure of 10,000 pounds per square inch (69,000 kPa). This pressure wave caused the 26,000 pounds (12,000 kg) steel vessel to jump 9 feet 1 inch (2.77 m) into the air before it dropped into its prior location.
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Famous quotes containing the words water, hammer and/or explosion:
“When peaceful clouds were reflected in the paddies
and the water buffalo stepped surely along terraces,
maybe fathers told their sons old tales.
When bombs smashed those mirrors
there was time only to scream.”
—Denise Levertov (b. 1923)
“I suppose that one of the psychological principles of advertising is to so hammer the name of your product into the mind of the timid buyer that when he is confronted with a brusk demand for an order he can’t think of anything else to say, whether he wants it or not.”
—Robert Benchley (1889–1945)
“Frau Stöhr ... began to talk about how fascinating it was to cough.... Sneezing was much the same thing. You kept on wanting to sneeze until you simply couldn’t stand it any longer; you looked as if you were tipsy; you drew a couple of breaths, then out it came, and you forgot everything else in the bliss of the sensation. Sometimes the explosion repeated itself two or three times. That was the sort of pleasure life gave you free of charge.”
—Thomas Mann (1875–1955)