rse #36

THINGS FALLING FROM HIGH ALTITUDE RSE # 36

If you want to break a stack of things, put a space between them, that's how the karate guys break a stack of bricks, they put spaces between them. Example; A single clay skeet tile breaks when a 1 oz steel rod dropped from 3 inches hits it. Two clay skeet tiles stacked with nothing between them will both break at 18 inches, which is a little better at 2.44 times the momentum. But, put sand between them and it requires 36 inches or 3.46 times the momentum to penetrate both tiles. Make the stack three layers of tiles with sand between them and it takes 4.28 times the momentum of the two sand buffered tiles or 14.83 times the momentum of a single tile to penetrate through all three tiles. Now why is this important. Well, if you're sitting in a bunker with a heavy steel missile headed directly at you from a high altitude, you really really want a lot of energy absorption between you and the rocket. Multiple layers of steel reinforced concrete with sand and gravel buffers between them will work best to absorb that energy. I'm thinking four layers with a layer of old auto cylinder heads thrown in for good luck.