Influence of the soil properties on craters produced by explosions on the soil surface

DANIEL AMBROSINI, RICARDO; LUCCIONI FORNS, BIBIANA MARÍA; FRANCISCO DANESI, RODOLFO

Bariloche

Congreso; ENIEF 2004; 2004

AMCA

In case of terrorist attacks or other intentional actions using explosives, it is extremely important the information that can be obtained from the crater gnerated by the blast waves. For example, the focus of the explosion and the mass of the explosive used in the attack can be deduced examining the location and dimensions of the crater. However, studies about craters produced by explosions on or above ground level, which would be the case when the explosive charge is situated in a vehicle, are rarely found in the open technical literature. In a previous paper, a numerical study related to crater produced by explosive loads located on the soil surface was presented. In this paper, a study about the influence of the variability of the soil properties on the crater dimensions is presented. The numerical model as well as the analysis procedure were validated against experimental observations of the crater diameters. Results of numerical tests performed with different amounts of explosive on the soil surface are presented. Moreover, the effect of elevation of the center of energy release of explosive loads located on the soil surface is analyzed and discussed. Simple prediction equations for the crater diameter are presented.