Improved sensitivity testing of explosives using transformed Up-Down methods

18th APS-SCCM; 24th AIRAPT

Brown, Geoffrey W.^1

High Explosives Science and Technology (WX-7), Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos

NM

87545, United States^1

关键词: Multiple test;    Non-normal distribution;    Probability levels;    Psychometric testing;    Response functions;    Sensitivity tests;    Standard deviation;    Stimulus levels;   

Others  :  https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1742-6596/500/5/052007/pdf
DOI  :  10.1088/1742-6596/500/5/052007

来源: IOP

【 摘 要 】

Sensitivity tests provide data that help establish guidelines for the safe handling of explosives. Any sensitivity test is based on assumptions to simplify the method or reduce the number of individual sample evaluations. Two common assumptions that are not typically checked after testing are 1) explosive response follows a normal distribution as a function of the applied stimulus levels and 2) the chosen test level spacing is close to the standard deviation of the explosive response function (for Bruceton Up-Down testing for example). These assumptions and other limitations of traditional explosive sensitivity testing can be addressed using Transformed Up-Down (TUD) test methods. TUD methods have been developed extensively for psychometric testing over the past 50 years and generally use multiple tests at a given level to determine how to adjust the applied stimulus. In the context of explosive sensitivity we can use TUD methods that concentrate testing around useful probability levels. Here, these methods are explained and compared to Bruceton Up-Down testing using computer simulation. The results show that the TUD methods are more useful for many cases but that they do require more tests as a consequence. For non-normal distributions, however, the TUD methods may be the only accurate assessment method.