Blast Load Simulator Experiments for Computational Model Validation Report 3
Abstract
The Department of Defense needs the capability to accurately predict airblast environments produced by explosive detonations and their interaction with geometrically complex objects that create complex flow fields, such as buildings, bridges, dams, etc. First-principles computer codes are typically used to generate high-fidelity simulations of these explosive events and their effects. These codes are continuously improving, but still require validation against experimental data to establish confidence in the results produced by the simulations. This report describes a set of replicate experiments in which a small, non-responding steel box-type structure was installed at varying obliquities and subjected to a simulated blast loading in a Blast Load Simulator (BLS) to provide pressure-time data at several locations on the surfaces of the structure. The BLS is a highly tunable, compressed-gas-driven, closed-end shock tube designed to simulate blast waveforms for explosive yields up to 20,000 lb of TNT equivalent at a peak reflected pressure up to 80 psi and a peak reflected impulse up to 1,100 psi-msec. Pressure and impulse waveforms are presented, and comparisons were made among the replicated experiments to evaluate repeatability. The uncertainty in the experimental pressures and impulses was evaluated by computing 95 confidence intervals on the results.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jul 01, 2017
- Accession Number
- AD1036720
Entities
People
- Andrew T. Barnes
- Carol F. Johnson
- James L. O'daniel