3 ms·

I'm pretty skeptical that the energy dispersed from a tungsten rod impact would be dispersed in a manner similar to a nuclear weapon. That is to say, while the

I'm pretty skeptical that the energy dispersed from a tungsten rod impact would be dispersed in a manner similar to a nuclear weapon. That is to say, while they may both be just as energetic, the nuclear bomb might be dumping most of it's energy into thermal radiation while the tungsten rod, I would expect, is dumping a lot of it's energy into shattering bedrock as it burrows half a kilometer deep into the earth's crust. Yes, ultimately that energy is dispersed as heat, the rocks pierced by the rod would get hotter, but instead of the thermal energy being emitted in one horrible microsecond in the atmosphere above the target, it would be dispersed over a longer time period and over a larger area straight into rock. That's just my intuition. I don't think these would actually be as effective as the raw energy values might suggest.

pdonis 8y ago
> I'm pretty skeptical that the energy dispersed from a tungsten rod impact would be dispersed in a manner similar to a nuclear weapon. You're right, it wouldn't. See below. > the tungsten rod, I would expect, is dumping a lot of it's energy into shattering bedrock as it burrows half a kilometer deep into the earth's crust Yes, that's the point: the expected use for these weapons is to hit hardened targets underground, so you want the energy to be concentrated, not dispersed like in a nuclear blast.
- darkpuma 8y ago
  What's to say it would have the desired terminal effects when it hits the underground bunker, instead of simply piercing the bunker and continuing deeper underground? If the underground bunker is built with bulkheads, would one portion of the bunker getting pierced by a rod necessarily turn people in another section into hamburger meat?
  - whamlastxmas 8y ago
    Guessing by lethal shockwaves are from relatively small explosions (like packets of C4), I'm going to go ahead and guess the energy dispersed from this would easily shatter all the concrete of the bunker and instantly kill anything living.
    - darkpuma 8y ago
      Maybe, but I'm not convinced. With enough velocity, a ping pong ball can blow a clean neat circular hole straight through a ping pong paddle. Fast moving objects can cause extremely localized damage. On the other hand if you shoot a fast at a plastic jug full of water, an incompressible fluid, it will shred the water jug specifically because that water is incompressible. Fill the jug with air or sand and you'll then find that the jug remains intact when you shoot it, save for two bullet-sized holes through both sides. If the tungsten rod is able to borrow through hundreds of meters of bedrock, it seems to me that's a sufficiently efficient penetrator that it might 'ice pick' straight through the target bunker dumping only a small fraction of it's energy into the bunker, as it then goes deeper through more bedrock.
      - whamlastxmas 8y ago
        Your ping pong ball example is fairly counter to everything I've ever seen but I'm no physicist. I would be very surprised if there's any velocity that would put the ball through the paddle without completely destroying both

pdonis 8y ago

> I'm pretty skeptical that the energy dispersed from a tungsten rod impact would be dispersed in a manner similar to a nuclear weapon. You're right, it wouldn't. See below. > the tungsten rod, I would expect, is dumping a lot of it's energy into shattering bedrock as it burrows half a kilometer deep into the earth's crust Yes, that's the point: the expected use for these weapons is to hit hardened targets underground, so you want the energy to be concentrated, not dispersed like in a nuclear blast.

darkpuma 8y ago
What's to say it would have the desired terminal effects when it hits the underground bunker, instead of simply piercing the bunker and continuing deeper underground? If the underground bunker is built with bulkheads, would one portion of the bunker getting pierced by a rod necessarily turn people in another section into hamburger meat?
- whamlastxmas 8y ago
  Guessing by lethal shockwaves are from relatively small explosions (like packets of C4), I'm going to go ahead and guess the energy dispersed from this would easily shatter all the concrete of the bunker and instantly kill anything living.
  - darkpuma 8y ago
    Maybe, but I'm not convinced. With enough velocity, a ping pong ball can blow a clean neat circular hole straight through a ping pong paddle. Fast moving objects can cause extremely localized damage. On the other hand if you shoot a fast at a plastic jug full of water, an incompressible fluid, it will shred the water jug specifically because that water is incompressible. Fill the jug with air or sand and you'll then find that the jug remains intact when you shoot it, save for two bullet-sized holes through both sides. If the tungsten rod is able to borrow through hundreds of meters of bedrock, it seems to me that's a sufficiently efficient penetrator that it might 'ice pick' straight through the target bunker dumping only a small fraction of it's energy into the bunker, as it then goes deeper through more bedrock.
    - whamlastxmas 8y ago
      Your ping pong ball example is fairly counter to everything I've ever seen but I'm no physicist. I would be very surprised if there's any velocity that would put the ball through the paddle without completely destroying both