Air-Blast Effects on Civil Structures

Keywords: detonations, computational fluid dynamics, fireball, design charts, reflection coefficients, scaled impulse, Mach reflection, concrete erosion strain

Abstract: The overarching goal of the research described in this report is to characterize the effects of detonations of high explosives, inside and in the immediate vicinity of the fireball. A computational fluid dynamics code is verified in 1D and validated in 2D for air blast calculations. The code is used to develop recommendations for modeling the effects of explosions in the near field, to generate new design charts appropriate for near-field air-blast calculations, and to update design charts for reflection coefficients for peak overpressure and for scaled impulse as a function of angle of incidence. Recommendations are provided for calculating values of erosion strain for finite element analysis of reinforced concrete components subjected to near-field air-blast loadings.