EFFECT OF BURIED EXPLOSIONS

BIBIANA LUCCIONI; DANIEL AMBROSINI

Córdoba, Argentina

Congreso; XVI CONGRESO SOBRE MÉTODOS NUMÉRICOS Y SUS APLICACIONES; 2007

Asociación Argentina de Mecánica Computacional

Shallow buried explosives pose a significant threat to lightweight vehicles and their occupants. Short term loading imparted by the explosion is enormously complex and can be significantly affected by a number of parameters including the size, shape, type, detonation point and depth of burial of the explosive and the type of soil. Extensive research activities in the field of buried blast loads have taken place in the last few decades. Nevertheless, the knowledge about the effect on objects placed over the ground is still limited. Most results are restricted to experimental observations or what have occurred during actual blast events. Recent advances in numerical simulation have enabled the blast of buried explosives to be simulated. The accuracy of numerical simulation of craters produced by underground explosions was proved in a previous paper. The numerical analysis of crater formation due to underground explosions was performed with a hydrocode. Further validation of the modeling technique is considered in the current paper. First, the crater produced by spherical explosives loads varying from 10 to 100 kg of TNT, placed at different depths, are simulated and compared with experimental results. Then the effect on objects located at the ground level and over the ground is analyzed. The paper is completed with comparison with experimental results and numerical results obtained by other researchers.