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WalTer HerrMaNN
1930–2000
elected in 1993
“For technical and managerial leadership in material models and tools
for numerical simulation of nonlinear dynamic phenomena.”
By orVal e. JoNes
sUBMiTTed By THe Nae HoMe secreTary
W alTer HerrMaNN was born on May 2, 1930, in
Johannesburg, south africa. He was the only child born to
gottlob fredrich Herrmann, a hotel proprietor, and gertrud
louise Herrmann (nee ratzlaff). Herrmann received both his
undergraduate (1953) and Ph.d. (1955) degrees in mechanical
engineering from Witwatersrand University in south africa.
dr. Hermann then taught mechanical engineering at the
University of cape Town for two years until 1957, when he
was invited by the Massachusetts institute of Technology
(MiT) to work as a researcher in the cold War effort.
He married Betty lorraine allard in 1955. They raised two
children, a daughter, inga, and a son, Peter, before divorcing
in 1983. in 1988, dr. Herrmann married ednarae Bligh gross,
who preceded him in death in 1996. dr. Herrmann was an
accomplished skier, a mountaineer (he volunteered for many
years for mountain rescues in New Mexico), and a cyclist. He
also enjoyed river rafting and scuba diving. after retiring from
sandia National laboratories, he was a volunteer for the New
Mexico Museum of Natural History and served as a docent at
archeological sites in southern colorado. Throughout his life
dr. Herrmann was an avid traveler, and in his later years he
developed a passion for tall ships, sailing, and archeology.
181
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182 MeMorial TriBUTes
Walter Herrmann came to sandia National laboratories
via the MiT division of sponsored research, where he was
developing his WAVE 1 finite-difference computer program
for numerically calculating high-amplitude, nonlinear wave
propagation in one-dimensional structures. sandians c.
donald lundergan and charles f. Bild, then the director
of materials and process development, along with others,
recognized that computers were becoming powerful enough
to realistically simulate shock-wave deformation of structures.
such deformation results from the detonation of explosives
or high-velocity impact. indeed, they were proven right;
Herrmann was successful in building this capability at sandia.
during the cold War between the United states and former
soviet Union, such capability was urgently needed for the
development of new nuclear weapons.
Herrmann joined sandia in early 1964 as supervisor of the
deformation of structures division. initially, he had no staff,
but he had management support to build a computer-code
development team. WaVe 1 became the basis for the sandia
WONDY finite-difference computer program, which was soon
used in nuclear weapons component development. Next, the
sandia Toody computer program was developed, which
enabled two-dimensional simulation and analyses of structures.
some of the important code developers included Herrmann
(a formidable mathematician and computer scientist), larry
d. Bertholf, darrell l. Hicks, r. Jeffry lawrence, samuel l.
Thompson, Billy J. Thorne, and robert J. Walsh. Thompson
went on to develop a powerful three-dimensional code that
included radiation transport.
These computer programs all required knowledge of
nonlinear constitutive behavior of materials at the extreme
stresses and strain rates induced by shock-wave loading.
Building on lundergan’s program of projectile plate impacts,
along with data from other sandia organizations and other
laboratories, the experimental data for developing constitutive
models of many types of materials—metals, ceramics,
polymers, composites, foams, for example—were obtained.
Names of some of the key staff members engaged in this
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183
WalTer HerrMaNN
activity during the next 25 years included James r. asay, lynn
M. Barker (inventor of the Visar), Barry M. Butcher, lalit c.
Chhabildas, Robert A. Graham, Charles H. Karnes, Darrell
E. Munson, and Karl W. Schuler. The experimental data then
had to be incorporated into theoretical constitutive models in
order to be used in the computer programs that were under
development. some of the key researchers in this activity
included albert J. chabai, Peter J. chen, lee W. davison,
douglas s. drumheller, dennis B. Hayes, Herrmann, James N.
Johnson, orval e. Jones, and Jace W. Nunziato. Many of these
individuals and others were also involved in code simulations
applied to pressing national problems. a particularly notable
example is the work of Paul yarrington on missile impact and
cratering and warhead contact fusing. other such contributors
included Marlin E. Kipp and Timothy J. Trucano.
over a period of more than 25 years Herrmann recruited,
managed, directed, and led by example an extremely
productive and internationally known organization of some
45 to 50 scientists and technicians. in 1982 he was appointed
director of engineering sciences—an organization of some 140
technical staff—that, in addition to the aforementioned solid
dynamics activities, included general engineering structural
analysis and fluid and thermal sciences. In 1992, prior to his
retirement in 1993, he was named a sandia senior fellow.
Herrmann died on June 4, 2000, at the age of 71.
survivors include his children, inga and Peter, and stepsons,
allan and Jeffrey gross, all of albuquerque; a stepdaughter,
Janis gross of longmont, colorado; grandchildren rishar,
Mariah, and Joshua; and his former wife, Betty lorraine allard
Herrmann, of albuquerque.
