Effect of Blasting Stress Wave on Dynamic Crack Propagation

Stress waves affect the stress field at the crack tip and dominate the dynamic crack propagation.Therefore,evaluating the influence of blasting stress waves on the crack propagation behavior and the mechanical characteristics of crack propagation is of great significance for engineering blasting.In this study,ANSYS/LS-DYNA was used for blasting numerical simulation,in which the propagation characteristics of blasting stress waves and stress field distribution at the crack tip were closely observed.Moreover,ABAQUS was applied for simulating the crack propagation path and calculating dynamic stress intensity factors(DSIFs).The universal function was calculated by the fractalmethod.The results show that:the compressive wave causes the crack to close and the reflected tensile wave drives the crack to initiate and propagate,and failure mode is mainly tensile failure.The crack propagation velocity varies with time,which increases at first and then decreases,and the crack arrest occurs due to the attenuation of stress waves and dissipation of the blasting energy.In addition,crack arrest toughness is smaller than the crack initiation toughness,applied pressure waveforms(such as the peak pressure,duration,waveforms,wavelengths and loading rates)have a great influence on DSIFs.It is conducive to our deep understanding or the study of blasting stress waves dominated fracture,suggesting a broad reference for the further development of rock blasting in engineering practice.

Propagation characteristics of vibration waves induced in surrounding rock by tunneling blasting

The effect of blasting vibration waves on surrounding rock and supporting structures is an important field in underground engineering. In this paper, the separation variable method is used to solve the displacement potential function for the propagation of the blasting vibration waves. In the axis coordinate system, the particle motion and stress change with axial distance, radial distance and time is obtained in surrounding rock. The peak particle velocity law in surrounding rock under different blast loads and surrounding rock parameters is discussed.In addition, the particle vibration characteristics in the surrounding rock are studied using numerical simulations method. The results shows that the peak particle velocity in surrounding rock appears negative exponent attenuation with the increase of axial distance, but it appears positive and negative fluctuations in radial direction. This phenomenon is a new discovery and it has been rarely investigated before. Moreover, the peak particle velocity attenuates more quickly and intensely in the near blasting field,which means that the supporting structure in a shorter distance away from the heading face is vulnerable to the impact of blasting vibration. Theattenuation of blasting vibration velocity is closely related to charge length, blasting load amplitude,attenuation index and rock elastic modulus. The numerical simulation accomplishes the same results and then demonstrates the validity of theoretical results.

Blast wave characteristics of multi-layer composite charge:Theoretical analysis,numerical simulation,and experimental validation

This article investigates the characteristics of shock wave overpressure generated by multi-layer composite charge under different detonation modes.Combining dimensional analysis and the explosion mechanism of the charge,a peak overpressure prediction model for the composite charge under singlepoint detonation and simultaneous detonation was established.The effects of the charge structure and initiation method on the overpressure field characteristics were investigated in AUTODYN simulation.The accuracy of the prediction model and the reliability of the numerical simulation method were subsequently verified in a series of static explosion experiments.The results reveal that the mass of the inner charge was the key factor determining the peak overpressure of the composite charge under single-point detonation.The peak overpressure in the radial direction improved apparently with an increase in the aspect ratio of the charge.The overpressure curves in the axial direction exhibited a multi-peak phenomenon,and the secondary peak overpressure even exceeded the primary peak at distances of 30D and 40D(where D is the charge diameter).The difference in peak overpressure among azimuth angles of 0-90°gradually decreased with an increase in the propagation distance of the shock wave.The coupled effect of the detonation energy of the inner and outer charge under simultaneous detonation improved the overpressure in both radial and axial directions.The difference in peak overpressure obtained from model prediction and experimental measurements was less than 16.4%.

Damage assessment of aircraft wing subjected to blast wave with finite element method and artificial neural network tool

Damage assessment of the wing under blast wave is essential to the vulnerability reduction design of aircraft. This paper introduces a critical relative distance prediction method of aircraft wing damage based on the back-propagation artificial neural network(BP-ANN), which is trained by finite element simulation results. Moreover, the finite element method(FEM) for wing blast damage simulation has been validated by ground explosion tests and further used for damage mode determination and damage characteristics analysis. The analysis results indicate that the wing is more likely to be damaged when the root is struck from vertical directions than others for a small charge. With the increase of TNT equivalent charge, the main damage mode of the wing gradually changes from the local skin tearing to overall structural deformation and the overpressure threshold of wing damage decreases rapidly. Compared to the FEM-based damage assessment, the BP-ANN-based method can predict the wing damage under a random blast wave with an average relative error of 4.78%. The proposed method and conclusions can be used as a reference for damage assessment under blast wave and low-vulnerability design of aircraft structures.

Development of an experimental method for well-controlled blast induced traumatic limb fracture in rats

Heterotopic ossification(HO)is a consequence of traumatic bone and tissue damage,which occurs in 65%of military casualties with blast-associated amputations.However,the mechanisms behind blast-induced HO remain unclear.Animal models are used to study blast-induced HO,but developing such models is challenging,particularly in how to use a pure blast wave(primary blast)to induce limb fracture that then requires an amputation.Several studies,including our recent study,have developed platforms to induce limb fractures in rats with blast loading or a mixture of blast and impact loading.However,these models are limited by the survivability of the animal and repeatability of the model.In this study,we developed an improved platform,aiming to improve the animal's survivability and injury repeatability as well as focusing on primary blast only.The platform exposed only one limb of the rat to a blast wave while providing proper protection to the rest of the rat's body.We obtained very consistent fracture outcome in the tibia(location and pattern)in cadaveric rats with a large range of size and weight.Importantly,the rats did not obviously move during the test,where movement is a potential cause of uncontrolled injury.We further conducted parametric studies by varying the features of the design of the platform.These factors,such as how the limb is fixed and how the cavity through which the limb is placed is sealed,significantly affect the resulting injury.This platform and test setups enable well-controlled limb fracture induced directly by pure blast wave,which is the fundamental step towards a complete in vivo animal model for blast-induced HO induced by primary blast alone,excluding secondary and tertiary blast injury.In addition,the platform design and the findings presented here,particularly regarding the proper protection of the animal,have implications for future studies investigating localized blast injuries,such as blast induced brain and lung injuries.

Shock wave mitigation using zig-zag structures and cylindrical obstructions

The present study focuses on the mitigation of shock wave using novel geometric passages in the flow field.The strategy is to produce multiple shock reflections and diffractions in the passage with minimum flow obstruction,which in turn is expected to reduce the shock wave strength at the target location.In the present study the interaction of a plane shock front(generated from a shock tube)with various geometric designs such as,1)zig-zag geometric passage,2)staggered cylindrical obstructions and 3)zigzag passage with cylindrical obstructions have been investigated using computational technique.It is seen from the numerical simulation that,among the various designs,the maximum shock attenuation is produced by the zig-zag passage with cylindrical obstructions which is then followed by zig-zag passage and staggered cylindrical obstructions.A comprehensive investigation on the shock wave reflection and diffraction phenomena happening in the proposed complex passages have also been carried out.In the new zig-zag design,the initial shock wave undergoes shock wave reflection and diffraction process which swaps alternatively as the shock front moves from one turn to the other turn.This cyclic shock reflection and diffraction process helps in diffusing the shock wave energy with practically no obstruction to the flow field.It is found that by combining the shock attenuation ability of zig-zag passage(using shock reflection and diffraction)with the shock attenuation ability of cylindrical blocks(by flow obstruction),a drastic attenuation in shock strength can be achieved with moderate level of flow blocking.

Local blast wave interaction with tire structure

The paper presents modelling and simulation of a local blast wave interaction with a tire of a logistic truck supporting military operations.In the military industry,it is desired to improve effectiveness and strength of vehicle components and simultaneously to minimize the risk of crew injuries.Therefore,the main goal of this paper is to present an attempt to improve blast resistance of a tire.Based on the developed,verified and validated finite element model an optimization procedure was conducted to minimize the damage of a tire subjected to a blast wave.The main issue in the performed computations was to estimate an influence of the cords angle in each layer.For this purpose,a pre-processor script was developed in order to easily modify the finite element model so that the generation process was perfo rmed automatically on the basis of optimization variables.Dynamic response of a tire subjected to blast wave in different cases(cords configurations) was analyzed.It was shown that the optimized cords angles configuration reduces tire local damage and increases its blast resistance.

Experimental and numerical study of the blast wave decrease using sandwich panel by granular materials core

Among the intrinsic properties of some materials,e.g.,foams,porous materials,and granular materials,are their ability to mitigate shock waves.This paper investigated shock wave mitigation by a sandwich panel with a granular core.Numerical simulations and experimental tests were performed using Autodyn hydro-code software and a shock tube,respectively.The smoothed particle hydrodynamics(SPH)method was used to model granular materials.Sawdust and pumice,whose properties were determined by several compression tests,were used as granular materials in the sandwich panel core.These granular materials possess many mechanisms,including compacting(e.g.,sawdust)and crushing(e.g.,pumice)that mitigate shock/blast wave.The results indicated the ineffectiveness of using a core with low thickness,yet it was demonstrated to be effective with high thickness.Low-thickness pumice yielded better results for wave mitigation.The use of these materials with a core with appropriate core reduces up to 88%of the shock wave.The results of the experiments and numerical simulations were compared,suggesting a good agreement between the two.This indicates the accuracy of simulation and the ability of the SPH method to modeling granular material under shock loading.The effects of grain size and the coefficient of friction between grains have also been investigated using simulation,implying that increasing the grain size and coefficient of friction between grains both reduce overpressure.

DYNAMIC LOAD ANALYSIS OF UNDERGROUND STRUCTURE UNDER EFFECT OF BLAST WAVE

A semi-analytical method of solving the problem of dynamic stress concentration of arbitrary underground structure under the effect of blast waves was introduced. Using the Fourier transform theory, the shock waves （in the forms of SH-waves） can be converted into frequency bands. After employing complex functions and conformal mapping, the admittance functions of various underground structures were obtained. Then, the problem of the time domain dynamic stress response of underground structure can be easily solved through the Fourier inverse transform. At last, the results and curves of the dynamic stress for the square, triangle and horseshoe cavity were presented.

Numerical simulation of the parabolic shell surface under blast wave loading

Deformation of parabolic shell surface under explosion shock waves is a complex dynamic problem. Because of reflection and interference of blast wave, it＇s hard to analytically delineate the dynamic responds of radar parabolic shell surface on blast wave. To gain the characteristics of thin shell deformation under impulsive loading of blast wave, numerical simulation methods for blast load on the shell structure was studied and analyzed. Euler-Lagrange numerical simulation was implemen- ted by AUTODYN code to simulate the problem. Through analysis on deflection feature of radial po- sition under different explosive mass and detonation height, an equation was founded by fitting the deflection results from numerical simulation results of shockwave loading. Experiments were ar- ranged to confirm the validity of the formula. The results gained by simulation are consistent with experiments, and the formula can be used to delineate the deflection of aluminum alloy parabolic shell under blast loading.

Nanometer ultrastructural brain damage following low intensity primary blast wave exposure

Blast-induced mild traumatic brain injury（m TBI） is of particular concern among military personnel due to exposure to blast energy during military training and combat.The impact of primary low-intensity blast mediated pathophysiology upon later neurobehavioral disorders has been controversial.Developing a military preclinical blast model to simulate the pathophysiology of human blast injury is an important first step.This article provides an overview of primary blast effects and perspectives of our recent studies demonstrating ultrastructural changes in the brain and behavioral disorders resulting from open-field blast exposures up to 46.6 k Pa using a murine model.The model is scalable and permits exposure to varying magnitudes of primary blast injuries by placing animals at different distances from the blast center or by changing the amount of C4 charge.We here review the implications and future applications and directions of using this animal model to uncover the underlying mechanisms related to primary blast injury.Overall,these studies offer the prospect of enhanced understanding of the pathogenesis of primary low-intensity blast-induced TBI and insights for prevention,diagnosis and treatment of blast induced TBI,particularly m TBI/concussion related to current combat exposures.

THE LOCUS OF SHOCK FRONT OF SPHERICAL BLAST WAVES WITH BACK PRESSURE

This papaer presents an analytic formula for the locus of shock front of sphericalblast waves with back pressure. Meanwhile, it is shown that the wave velocity is inversely proportions to the area of shock wave in the Lagrangian coordinate space. If shock wave ispropagating into the gas at rest, the wave velocity is also inversely propagating into the gasat rest, the wave velocity is also inversely proportional to the area of shock front in the Eulerian coordinate space. The results obtained are generally applicable and may be suited to thewave velocity of contracting spherical shock wave.

Attenuation Effect of Expansion Configuration and Acoustic Material on Propagation of Blast Waves in a Duct

With recent increase of cars, the noise problem has been caused by the exhaust sounds released from exhaust pipes, which consist of weak and pulsed shock waves called blast waves. To diminish the noise, a silencer is set up in front of the exhaust pipe. In the present study, reflectors were installed in the high-pressure section of the shock tube to generate blast waves, and three types of expansion region were investigated, combined with acoustic material of glass wool. The pressure decay was evaluated by transmission factor and reflection factor for the incident blast wave, together with pressure histories and high-speed Schlieren photography. As results, it was confirmed that the acoustic material greatly contributed to blast-wave attenuation: the one stage expansion model with glass wool recorded the highest decay of the peak over pressure for transmission, and other models with glass wool showed the second highest. The acoustic material also contributed to decay of reflected shock waves propagating toward an upstream duct.

Blast waveform tailoring using controlled venting in blast simulators and shock tubes

A critical challenge of any blast simulation facility is in producing the widest possible pressure-impulse range for matching against equivalent high-explosive events.Shock tubes and blast simulators are often constrained with the lack of effective ways to control blast wave profiles and as a result have a limited performance range.Some wave shaping techniques employed in some facilities are reviewed but often necessitate extensive geometric modifications,inadvertently cause flow anomalies,and/or are only applicable under very specific configurations.This paper investigates controlled venting as an expedient way for waveforms to be tuned without requiring extensive modifications to the driver or existing geometry and could be widely applied by existing and future blast simulation and shock tube facilities.The use of controlled venting is demonstrated experimentally using the Advanced Blast Simulator(shock tube)at the Australian National Facility of Physical Blast Simulation and via numerical flow simulations with Computational Fluid Dynamics.Controlled venting is determined as an effective method for mitigating the impact of re-reflected waves within the blast simulator.This control method also allows for the adjustment of parameters such as tuning the peak overpressure,the positive phase duration,and modifying the magnitude of the negative phase and the secondary shock of the blast waves.This paper is concluded with an illustration of the potential expanded performance range of the Australian blast simulation facility when controlled venting for blast waveform tailoring as presented in this paper is applied.

Non-dimensional analysis on blast wave propagation in foam concrete:Minimum thickness to avoid stress enhancement

Foam concrete is a prospective material in defense engineering to protect structures due to its high energy absorption capability resulted from the long plateau stage.However,stress enhancement rather than stress mitigation may happen when foam concrete is used as sacrificial claddings placed in the path of an incoming blast load.To investigate this interesting phenomenon,a one-dimensional difference model for blast wave propagation in foam concrete is firstly proposed and numerically solved by improving the second-order Godunov method.The difference model and numerical algorithm are validated against experimental results including both the stress mitigation and the stress enhancement.The difference model is then used to numerically analyze the blast wave propagation and deformation of material in which the effects of blast loads,stress-strain relation and length of foam concrete are considered.In particular,the concept of minimum thickness of foam concrete to avoid stress enhancement is proposed.Finally,non-dimensional analysis on the minimum thickness is conducted and an empirical formula is proposed by curve-fitting the numerical data,which can provide a reference for the application of foam concrete in defense engineering.

Experimental study on explosion dispersion process of a multi-layer composite charge under different initiation modes

The influe nce of initiation modes on the explosive dispersion process of the multi-layer co mposite charge(MCC) was studied.Overpressure sensors and high-speed photography system were used to investigate the energy release process of an MCC with a specific structure.The shock wave pressure and explosive dispersion characteristics of the MCC under different initiation modes were compared.The forming and expanding process of the shock wave of the composite charge under different initiation modes was determined.The separation position of the shock wave and fireball interface was determined.The calculation formulas of the shock radius and overpressure of the composite charge are presented.The radius of the shock wave of the composite charge was significantly affected by the initiation mode.Moreover,the development process of the composite explosive fireball under different initiation modes was analyzed,the variation rules of the composite charge dispersion radius and fireball dispersion velocity with time were obtained under the different initiation modes,the explosion energy release rate of composite charge under simultaneous initiation modes was the highest,and the peak overpressure under the simultaneous initiation mode was 1.61 times that of central single-point initiation.

Mitigation of the blast load effects on a building structure using newly composite structural configurations

In this study,a nonlinear three-dimensional hydrocode numerical simulation was carried out using AUTODYN-3D to investigate the effect of blasting of a high explosive material(TNT)against several configurations of the composite structure.Several numerical models were carried out to study the effect of varying the thickness of the walls and the effect of adding an air layer or aluminum foam layer inside two layers of concrete in mitigating the effect of blast waves on the structure walls.The results showed that increasing the thickness of walls has a good effect on mitigating the effect of blast waves.When a layer of air was added,the effect of blast waves was exaggerated,while when a layer of aluminum foam was added the blast wave effects were mitigated with a reasonable percentage.

Autonomic responses to blast overpressure can be elicited by exclusively exposing the ear in rats

Blast overpressure has become an increasing cause of brain injuries in both military and civilian populations. Though blast＇s direct effects on the cochlea and vestibular organs are active areas of study, little attention has been given to the ear＇s contribution to the overall spectrum of blast injury. Acute auto- nomic responses to blast exposure, including bradycardia and hypotension, can cause hypoxia and contribute to blast-induced neurotrauma. Existing literature suggests that these autonomic responses are elicited through blast impacting the thorax and lungs. We hypothesize that the unprotected ear also provides a vulnerable locus for blast to cause autonomic responses. We designed a blast generator that delivers controlled overpressure waves into the ear canal without impacting surrounding tissues in order to study the ear＇s specific contribution to blast injury. Anesthetized adult rats＇ left ears were exposed to a single blast wave ranging from 0 to 110 PSI （0-758 kPa）. Blast exposed rats exhibited decreased heart rates and blood pressures with increased blast intensity, similar to results gathered using shock tubes and whole-body exposure in the literature. While rats exposed to blasts below 50 PSI （345 kPa） exhibited increased respiratory rate with increased blast intensity, some rats exposed to blasts higher than 50 PSI （345 kPa） stopped breathing immediately and ultimately died. These autonomic responses were significantly reduced in vagally denervated rats, again similar to whole-body exposure literature. These results support the hypothesis that the unprotected ear contributes to the autonomic responses to blast.

Numerical simulation of non-contact explosion by door breaching explosive

Aiming at the estimation of personal injury attached by counter-terrorist door breaching explosive blast wave, according to the actual scene, four typical application space models of count- er-terrorist door breaching explosives are established, and numerical simulation of air-blast wave propagation by non-contact explosion counter-terrorist door breaching explosive are achieved. The research results show that the overpressure behind the target door is attenuated deeply through the burglary resistant safety door, and the propagation of blast wave and the damage effect under differ- ent space conditions are obviously different.

Influence of the spatial distribution of underground tunnel group on its blasting vibration response

The spatial distribution of underground tunnels is significant to the stress redistribution in the surrounding rock masses and blast wave propagation.The field blasting tests were first carried out to study the propagation of blast-induced seismic waves through under-ground tunnels of the Xiluodu Hydropower Station in China.The results show that the peak horizontal particle vibration velocity can be used as a safety criterion for underground tunnels.The effects of in situ stresses and spatial distributions of the tunnel group on the vibra-tion velocities distribution is afterward investigated by numerical simulation.The results show that there is a significant amplification of the blasting vibrations in the adjacent tunnels,which depends on their vertical positions during the excavation of a tunnel.The peak vibration velocity decreases as the lateral separation between tunnels increases.When the separation between the tunnels exceeds the width of three tunnels,the impact of the blast waves on each part of the adjacent tunnel tends to be stable on the whole.In terms of the size of the tunnel,the blasting vibration velocity in the upper part of the straight wall on the front-blast side increases as the width increases(and then levels off),while the blasting vibration velocity in the lower part decreases as the width increases(and then levels off).Finally,a generalized formula of blasting vibration velocity considering the spatial distribution is established,which can well predict the vibration velocity of particles in underground tunnels.