Publications

The summary of this report is: (1) The Kernal Density Estimator (KDE) model using log data provides the most conservative estimates; (2) The Empirical Tolerance Limit (ETL) model provides the least conservative estimates; (3) The results for the Karhunen-Loeve (K-L) and Normal Tolerance Limit (NTL) models lie in between the extremes; (4) The NTL results ended up being as credible as any of the other methods. This may be related to the fact that the data appeared to fit a lognormal distribution for higher values of {beta}; (5) The discrepancy between these methods appears to widen for higher values of {beta} and {gamma}; (6) The reasons for the extreme difference in the KDE results depending on whether one uses the raw data or the log of the data is not clear at this time; and (7) Which model will best suit our needs is not clear at this time.

The DOE/DOD Environmental Data Bank was established in 1959 as a central location for storing weapons and equipment environments information from a variety of DOE, DOD, and industrial sources and continues to be maintained by Sandia National Laboratories. The Environmental Data Bank contains approximately 2,900 documents regarding normal and abnormal environments that describe the handling, storage, transportation, use, and general phases, which occur during the life of a weapon system. The Environmental Data Bank contains a vast assortment of resources that document crash, fire, and chemical environments resulting from aircraft, rail, ship, and truck accidents, as well as crash and thermal tests conducted on shipping containers. Also included are studies on the hazards of exposure to liquid natural gas fireballs, chemical fireballs, and hydrogen fireballs. This paper describes the DOE/DOD Environmental Data Bank system, its structure, data sources, and usage, with particular emphasis on its use for safety assessments at Sandia National Laboratories.