Blast Wave Mitigation from the Straight Tube by Using Water Part II - Numerical Simulation

Abstract

This paper investigates explosions in a straight square tube in order to understand the mitigation effect of water on blast waves that emerge outside. Numerical simulations are used to assess the effect of water that is put inside the tube. The water reduces the peak overpressure outside, which agrees well with the experimental data. The increases in the kinetic and internal energies of the water are estimated, and the internal energy transfer at the air/water interface is shown to be an important factor in mitigating the blast wave in the present numerical method.

Blast mitigation by water in a bag on a tunnel floor

“…The results conclude that the mitigation of blast wave by water is mainly caused by the interaction between the explosion and the water very near the explosion point. The numerical simulations [8,9] of this system concluded that internal energy transfer from the blast wave to the water caused the mitigation. This result can apply to reduce the damage by explosion in closed places, such as subsurface magazines, underground magazines and tunnels.…”

“…In a series of the experiments, the authors found that small amount of water on the floor of its storage chamber mitigated the blast pressure remarkably [5]. The authors have been studied the mitigation mechanism by experiments [6,7] and numerical simulation [8,9]. Our previous study [6] concluded that the high-speed camera images showed that the water in the chamber did not move apparently after the explosion, hence, the energy conversion from the blast wave to kinetic energy of water was not main origin of the mitigation.…”