EFFECTS OF LARGE AND SPREAD EXPLOSIVES LOADS

LUCCIONI, BIBIANA MARÍA; AMBROSINI, DANIEL; CHUNG KIM YUEN, STEEVE; NURICK, GERALD

Haifa, Israel

Workshop; International Workshop on Structures Response to Impact and Blast; 2009

National Building Research Institute

Reports on experimental and numerical analysis involving explosive devices (> 500 kg TNT) are scarce. Blast wave front parameters and scaling laws found in the literature have usually been obtained for spherical explosive charges. Empirical equations, proposed for the evaluation of crater dimensions produced by spherical or cylindrical explosive charges on ground level, were obtained for explosive masses up to 500 kg of TNT. This paper presents experiments and numerical analysis of the effects of detonation of explosive charges ranging from 1000 to 26288 kg lying on the ground. The charges consist of different ordnances stacked in different configurations, mainly widespread in a carpet-like form. Numerical analysis using ANSYS/Autodyn are carried out with a view to gain a better understanding of the blast loading resulting from the detonation of large masses of ordnance. The influence of the charge configurations on the blast wave parameters and crater shape are investigated. The effects of blast wave reflection on the floor and explosive charge shape are identified. While the cube root scaled distance works well for the evaluation of pressure and impulse values produced by a relatively compact charge layout, the scaled distance parameter has to be modified for cases where charges are spread in a carpet-like fashion. Good correlation between the numerical results and experiments in terms of crater dimensions and blast wave parameters is obtained.