Kuifje: de zaak Zonnebloem
Leslie E Simon, German research in World War II, 1947.
pagina's 181 t/m 183.
Sound as a weapon
The Speer Ministry had a research establishment near Lofer,
Austria, in which Dr. Richard Wallauscheck attempted to use
sound as a weapon. His latest and best design consisted of a
parabolic reflector, 3.2 meters in diameter, having a short tube
which was the combustion chamber or sound generator, extending
to the rear from the vertex of the parabola. The chamber was
fed at the rear by two coaxial nozzles, the outer nozzle emitting
methane, and the central nozzle oxygen. The length of the chamber
was one-quarter the wavelength of the sound in air. Upon
initiation, the first shock wave was reflected back from the open
end of the chamber and initiated the second explosion. The frequency
was from 800 to 1500 impulses per second.
The main lobe of the sound intensity pattern had a 65° angle
of opening, and at 60 meters' distance on the axis a pressure
of 1000 microbars had been measured. No physiological experiments
had been conducted, but it was estimated that at such a
pressure it would take from 30 to 40 seconds to kill a man. At
greater ranges, perhaps up to 300 meters, the effect, although not
lethal, would be very painful and would probably disable a man
for an appreciable length of time. vision would be affected, and
low-level exposures would cause point sources of light to appear
as lines. The general opinion was that the military value of
such a device was limited, to say the least, owing chiefly to the
lack of range.