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.

Experimental and numerical study on protective effect of RC blast wall against air shock wave

Prototype experiments were carried out on the explosion-proof performance of the RC blast wall.The mass of TNT detonated in the experiments is 5 kg and 20 kg respectively.The shock wave overpressure was tested in different regions.The above experiments were numerically simulated,and the simulated shock wave overpressure waveforms were compared with that tested and given by CONWEP program.The results show that the numerically simulated waveform is slightly different from the test waveform,but similar to CONWEP waveform.Through dimensional analysis and numerical simulation under different working conditions,the equation for the attenuation rate of the diffraction overpressure behind the blast wall was obtained.According to the corresponding standards,the degree of casualties and the damage degree of the brick concrete building at a certain distance behind the wall can be determined when parameters are set.The above results can provide a reference for the design and construction of the reinforced concrete blast wall.

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.

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.

A case study of blasting vibration attenuation based on wave component characteristics

A typical blasting vibration wave is a composite wave,and its attenuation law is affected by the type of dominant wave component.The purpose of the present study is to establish an attenuation equation of the peak particle velocity(PPV),taking into account the attenuation characteristics of P-,S-and R-waves in the blasting vibration wave.Field blasting tests were carried out as a case to specifically apply the proposed equation.In view of the fact that the discrete properties of rock mass will inevitably cause the uncertainty of blasting vibration,we also carried out a probability analysis of PPV uncertainty,and introduced the concept of reliability to evaluate blasting vibration.The results showed that the established attenuation equation had a higher prediction accuracy,and can be considered as a promising equation implemented on more complex sites.The adopted uncertainty analysis method can comprehensively take account of the attenuation law of blasting vibration measured on site and discrete properties of rock masses.The obtained distribution of the PPV uncertainty factor can quantitatively evaluate the reliability of blasting vibration,which is a powerful and necessary supplement to the PPV attenuation equation.

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%.

A novel method for simulating nuclear explosion with chemical explosion to form an approximate plane wave: Field test and numerical simulation

A nuclear explosion in the rock mass medium can produce strong shock waves,seismic shocks,and other destructive effects,which can cause extreme damage to the underground protection infrastructures.With the increase in nuclear explosion power,underground protection engineering enabled by explosion-proof impact theory and technology ushered in a new challenge.This paper proposes to simulate nuclear explosion tests with on-site chemical explosion tests in the form of multi-hole explosions.First,the mechanism of using multi-hole simultaneous blasting to simulate a nuclear explosion to generate approximate plane waves was analyzed.The plane pressure curve at the vault of the underground protective tunnel under the action of the multi-hole simultaneous blasting was then obtained using the impact test in the rock mass at the site.According to the peak pressure at the vault plane,it was divided into three regions:the stress superposition region,the superposition region after surface reflection,and the approximate plane stress wave zone.A numerical simulation approach was developed using PFC and FLAC to study the peak particle velocity in the surrounding rock of the underground protective cave under the action of multi-hole blasting.The time-history curves of pressure and peak pressure partition obtained by the on-site multi-hole simultaneous blasting test and numerical simulation were compared and analyzed,to verify the correctness and rationality of the formation of an approximate plane wave in the simulated nuclear explosion.This comparison and analysis also provided a theoretical foundation and some research ideas for the ensuing study on the impact of a nuclear explosion.

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.

Analysis of explosion wave interactions and rock breaking effects during dual initiation

In blasting engineering, the location and number of detonation points, to a certain degree, regulate the propagation direction ofthe explosion stress wave and blasting effect. Herein, we examine the explosion wave field and rock breaking effect in terms of shockwave collision, stress change of the blast hole wall in the collision zone, and crack propagation in the collision zone. The produced shockwave on the collision surface has an intensity surpassing the sum of the intensities of the two colliding explosion shock waves. At the collisionlocation, the kinetic energy is transformed into potential energy with a reduction in particle velocity at the wave front and the wavefront pressure increases. The expansion form of the superposed shock wave is dumbbell-shaped, the shock wave velocity in the collisionarea is greater than the radial shock wave velocity, and the average propagation angle of the explosion shock waves is approximately 60°.Accordingly, a fitted relationship between blast hole wall stress and explosion wave propagation angle in the superposition area is plotted.Under the experimental conditions, the superimposed explosion wave stress of the blast hole wall is approximately 1.73 times the singleexplosionwave incident stress. The results of the model test and numerical simulations reveal that large-scale radial fracture cracks weregenerated on the blast hole wall in the superimposed area, and the width of the crack increased. The width of the large-scale radial fracturecracks formed by a strong impact is approximately 5% of the blast hole length. According to the characteristics of blast hole wallcompression, the mean peak pressures of the strongly superimposed area are approximately 1.48 and 1.84 times those of the weakly superimposedand nonsuperimposed areas, respectively.

Physics-informed machine learning model for prediction of ground reflected wave peak overpressure

The accurate prediction of peak overpressure of explosion shockwaves is significant in fields such as explosion hazard assessment and structural protection, where explosion shockwaves serve as typical destructive elements. Aiming at the problem of insufficient accuracy of the existing physical models for predicting the peak overpressure of ground reflected waves, two physics-informed machine learning models are constructed. The results demonstrate that the machine learning models, which incorporate physical information by predicting the deviation between the physical model and actual values and adding a physical loss term in the loss function, can accurately predict both the training and out-oftraining dataset. Compared to existing physical models, the average relative error in the predicted training domain is reduced from 17.459%-48.588% to 2%, and the proportion of average relative error less than 20% increased from 0% to 59.4% to more than 99%. In addition, the relative average error outside the prediction training set range is reduced from 14.496%-29.389% to 5%, and the proportion of relative average error less than 20% increased from 0% to 71.39% to more than 99%. The inclusion of a physical loss term enforcing monotonicity in the loss function effectively improves the extrapolation performance of machine learning. The findings of this study provide valuable reference for explosion hazard assessment and anti-explosion structural design in various fields.

Energy and blast performance of beryllium in a model thermobaric composition in comparison with aluminum and magnesium

A direct comparison is made between the effectiveness of Al,Mg,and Be powders as additional fuels in model thermobaric compositions containing 20%fuel,20%ammonium perchlorate,and 60%RDX(1,3,5-Trinitro-1,3,5-triazacyclohexane)passivated with wax.Experimentally determined calorimetric measurements of the heat of detonation,along with the overpressure histories in an explosion chamber filled with nitrogen,were used to determine the quasi-static pressure(QSP)under anaerobic conditions.Overpressure measurements were also performed in a semi-closed bunker,and all blast wave parameters generated after the detonation of 500 g charges of the tested explosives were determined.Detonation calorimetry results,QSP values,and blast wave parameters(pressure amplitude,specific and total impulses)clearly indicate that Be is much more effective as an additional fuel than either Al or Mg in both anaerobic post-detonation reactions as well as the subsequent aerobic combustion.The heat of detonation of the RDXwax/AP/Be explosive mixture is over 40%and 50%higher than that of the mixture containing aluminum and magnesium instead of beryllium,respectively.Moreover,the TNT equivalent of the Be-containing composition due to the overpressure in the nitrogen-filled explosion chamber is 1.66,while the equivalent calculated using an air shock wave-specific impulse at a distance of 2.5 m is equal to 1.69.The high values of these parameters confirm the high reactivity of beryllium in both the anaerobic and aerobic stages of the thermobaric explosion.

Experimental Research on Amplitude Change of Blasting Seismic Wave with Topography

The propagation characteristics of the amplitude of the blasting seismic wave under the conditions of various topographies are approached by means of experiments. Some factors affecting the effects of quake insulation groove, such as the size, the depth and the position of the quake insulation groove, are studied. The amplitudes of the blasting seismic waves under the conditions of the different sizes of the quake insulation groove are measured. According to the experiments, the effects of the quake insulation groove are related to the position, the distance, the energy of the explosion source and the size of the quake insulation groove itself. The farther it is from the explosion source, the smaller the energy is. The lower its position is and the larger its size is, the more remarkable the effects of the quake insulation groove are.

Numerical study on the fracturing mechanism of shock wave interactions between two adjacent blast holes in deep rock blasting

With the application of electronic detonators, millisecond blasting is regarded as a signifi cant promising approach to improve the rock fragmentation in deep rock blasting. Thus, it is necessary to investigate the fracturing mechanisms of short-delay blasting. In this work, a rectangle model with two circle boreholes is modeled as a particles assembly based on the discrete element method to simulate the shock wave interactions induced by millisecond blasting. The rectangle model has a size of 12 × 6 m (L × W) and two blast holes have the same diameter of 12 cm. The shock waves are simplifi ed as time-varying forces applied at the particles of walls of the two boreholes. Among a series of numerical tests in this study, the spacing between two adjacent boreholes and delay time of millisecond blasting are considered as two primary variables, and the decoupling charge with a coeffi cient of 1.5 is taken into account in each case. The results show that stress superposition is not a key factor for improving rock fragmentation (tensile stress interactions rather than compressive stress superposition could aff ect the generation of cracks), whereas collision actions from isolated particles or particles with weakened constraints play a crucial role in creating the fracture network. The delay time has an infl uence on causing cracks in rock blasting, however, whether it works heavily depends on the distance between the two holes.

Mesh Size Effect in Numerical Simulation of Blast Wave Propagation and Interaction with Structures

Numerical method is popular in analysing the blast wave propagation and interaction with structures.However,because of the extremely short duration of blast wave and energy trans-mission between different grids,the numerical results are sensitive to the finite element mesh size.Previous numerical simulations show that a mesh size acceptable to one blast scenario might not be proper for another case,even though the difference between the two scenarios is very small,indicating a simple numerical mesh size convergence test might not be enough to guarantee accu-rate numerical results.Therefore,both coarse mesh and fine mesh were used in different blast scenarios to investigate the mesh size effect on numerical results of blast wave propagation and interaction with structures.Based on the numerical results and their comparison with field test re-sults and the design charts in TM5-1300,a numerical modification method was proposed to correct the influence of the mesh size on the simulated results.It can be easily used to improve the accu-racy of the numerical results of blast wave propagation and blast loads on structures.

Numerical simulation of the blast wave of a multilayer composite charge

The numerical simulation of a blast wave of a multilayer composite charge is investigated.A calculation model of the near-field explosion and far-field propagation of the shock wave of a composite charge is established using the AUTODYN finite element program.Results of the near-field and far-field calculations of the shock wave respectively converge at cell sizes of 0.25-0.5 cm and 1-3 cm.The Euler--fluxcorrected transport solver is found to be suitable for the far-field calculation after mapping.A numerical simulation is conducted to study the formation,propagation,and interaction of the shock wave of the composite charge for different initiation modes.It is found that the initiation mode obviously affects the shock-wave waveform and pressure distribution of the composite charge.Additionally,it is found that the area of the overpressure distribution is greatest for internal and external simultaneous initiation,and the peak pressure of the shock wave exponentially decays,fitting the calculation formula of the peak overpressure attenuation under different initiation modes,which is obtained and verified by experiment.The difference between numerical and experimental results is less than 10%,and the peak overpressure of both internal and external initiation is 56.12% higher than that of central single-point initiation.

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.

Numerical simulation on radiation and energy of blast-induced seismic waves in deep rock masses

With regard to blasting in deep rock masses,it is commonly thought that an increase in the in-situ stress will change the blast-induced rock crack propagation and ultimately affect rock fragmentation.However,little attention has been given to the change in seismic wave radiation when the fractured zone changes with the in-situ stress.In this study,the influences of in-situ stress on blast-induced rock fracture and seismic wave radiation are numerically investigated by a coupled SPH-FEM simulation method.The results show that the change in blast-induced rock fracture with in-situ stress has a considerable effect on the seismic wave energy and composition.As the in-situ stress level increases,the size of the fractured zone is significantly reduced,and more explosion energy is transformed into seismic energy.A reduction in the size of the fractured zone(seismic wave source zone)results in a higher frequency content of the seismic waves.In a nonhydrostatic in-situ stress field,blast-induced cracks are most suppressed in the direction of the minimum in-situ stress,and thus the seismic waves generated in this direction have the highest energy density.In addition to P-waves,Swaves are also generated when a circular explosive is detonated in a nonhydrostatic in-situ stress field.The S-waves result from the asymmetrical release of rock strain energy due to the anisotropic blast-induced fracture pattern.

Seismic effort of blasting wave transmitted in coal-rock mass associated with mining operation

Microseismic effects during the transmission of seismic waves in coal and rock mass associated with mining operation were studied by on-site blasting tests and microseismic monitoring in LW704 of Southern Colliery,Australia,by using spread velocities,amplitudes and frequency contents as the main analysis parameters.The results show that the average P-wave velocity,mean values of combined maximal amplitudes and frequencies of the first arrivals are all reduced significantly along with goaf expanding and intensity weakening of overlying strata during mining process.A full roof fracturing can make the average P-wave velocities,combined maximal amplitudes and frequencies of first arrivals reduce to about 69.8%,92.2% and 60.0%,respectively.The reduction of the above seismic parameters reveals dynamic effects of the variation of strata structure and property to the wave transmission and energy dissipation of blasting wave.The research greatly benefits further study on stability of surrounding rock under the destructive effort by mine tremor,blasting,etc,and provides experimental basis for source relocation and parameter optimization of seismic monitoring as well.

Experimental Investigation on Shock Wave Characteristics of Aluminized Explosives in Air Blast

To investigate the shock wave characteristics of RDX-based aluminized explosives,air blast tests were conducted for measuring the parameters of 10 kg aluminized explosives which contained 0-40% aluminum.The results showed that with the increasing of aluminum content,the overpressures and impulses increase at first and then decrease within 7 m or 5 m,which reached the maximum when aluminum content was 20% or 30%.Power exponential formulas are used to fit the shock wave parameters vs scaled distance,where an equal weight of TNT is used to calculate the scaled distance.The overpressures of HL0 and TNT in tested locations not only conform to the similar law,but also conform to the same attenuation law after gaining the scaled distances of equal TNT mass.The pre-exponential factors of overpressure and impulse,kp and kI,decrease along with the increasing of Al content and keep the same pace as the calculated PCJ）.The attenuation coefficients a_P and aIincrease at first and decrease later with the increasing of aluminum content,and they reached the maximal values with30% Al containing,which keeps the same pace as the calculated QV.