Experimental investigation of blast wave propagation in an urban environment

Fouchier, Charline; Laboureur, Delphine; Youinou, L.; Lapébie, Emmanuel; Buchlin, Jean‐Marie

doi:10.1016/j.jlp.2017.06.021

Cited by 25 publications

(23 citation statements)

References 4 publications

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“…In a study conducted by C. Fouchier et al (2017), an experimental investigation that sought to replicate explosive detonation within a typical urban setting was carried out.…”

Section: Explosions Near Structures In Urban Environmentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Experimental and Numerical Study of Blast-Structure Interaction

Katko¹,

Chavez²,

Liu³

et al. 2020

Structures Congress 2020

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Blast wave interaction with structures is a complex phenomenon. Not only are the fluid mechanics and combustion physics involved in the blast wave dynamics difficult to correctly model, but also the interaction with a structure, the structure's response to the dynamic loading, and the structure's influence on the blast wave propagation itself. Clearly, blast waves propagating on nearby structures fall under the category of three-dimensional scenarios featuring highly time dependent fluid and solid mechanics responses. In addition, the high strain rates imparted onto the structure make it difficult to extrapolate a low strain rate response of the structure. Here we present a novel small-scale experimental setup to study blast wave-structure interaction in a three-dimensional setting in which a cityscape is subjected to a dynamic blast wave event. The experimental turnaround time is very fast: less than two minutes per experiments. Experimental data is obtained via ultra-high-speed schlieren photography and local strain gages attached to the structure(s) of interest.

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“…In a study conducted by C. Fouchier et al (2017), an experimental investigation that sought to replicate explosive detonation within a typical urban setting was carried out.…”

Section: Explosions Near Structures In Urban Environmentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Experimental and Numerical Study of Blast-Structure Interaction

Katko¹,

Chavez²,

Liu³

et al. 2020

Structures Congress 2020

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“…Alternative approaches include modelling the entire domain at a scaled size. Fouchier et al (2017) adopted this approach, using a range of wooden test structures at a 1:200 scale to analyse various street arrangements. It allowed for direct comparisons between each road/building layout to be conducted in a safer and more economical way.…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Prediction of blast loading in an internal environment using artificial neural networks

Dennis

Pannell

Smyl

et al. 2020

International Journal of Protective Structures

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Explosive loading in a confined internal environment is highly complex and is driven by nonlinear physical processes associated with reflection and coalescence of multiple shock fronts. Prediction of this loading is not currently feasible using simple tools, and instead specialist computational software or practical testing is required, which are impractical for situations with a wide range of input variables. There is a need to develop a tool which balances the accuracy of experiments or physics-based numerical schemes with the simplicity and low computational cost of an engineering-level predictive approach. Artificial neural networks (ANNs) are formed of a collection of neurons that process information via a series of connections. When fully trained, ANNs are capable of replicating and generalising multi-parameter, high-complexity problems and are able to generate new predictions for unseen problems (within the bounds of the training variables). This article presents the development and rigorous testing of an ANN to predict blast loading in a confined internal environment. The ANN was trained using validated numerical modelling data, and key parameters relating to formulation of the training data and network structure were critically analysed in order to maximise the predictive capability of the network. The developed network was generally able to predict specific impulses to within 10% of the numerical data: 90% of specific impulses in the unseen testing data, and between 81% and 87% of specific impulses for data from four additional unseen test models, were predicted to this accuracy. The network was highly capable of generalising in areas adjacent to reflecting surfaces and as those close to ambient outflow boundaries. It is shown that ANNs are highly suited to modelling blast loading in a confined internal environment, with significant improvements in accuracy achievable if a robust, well distributed training dataset is used with a network structure that is tailored to the problem being solved.

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“…Confined explosions have, however, been studied in different settings such as urban environments [1,[5][6][7][8][9], tunnels [10][11][12], and small-size closed compartments and rooms [4,[13][14][15][16], where the flow of blast waves is constrained by obstacles and non-straight narrow paths.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Reflections and channelling effects have also been investigated in urban scenarios. Fouchier et al [9] studied the effects of typical urban configurations (open roads, T-junctions and other junction configurations, and the channelling effect) on the blast propagation. Results show that the most critical situation in case of the detonation of a high-explosive in an urban environment is the presence of narrow and straight roads with high buildings, since the blast overpressure and consequent impulse can be significantly increased with the degree of confinement.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…To overcome this, the use of small-scale models to represent full-size configurations has been considered by a number of authors. This approach has been used over the last three decades [1,[5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13] and, more recently, an attempt to describe the changes in the pressure history due to the detonation of a high-explosive charge in a confined environment composed of a four-room single-story building was made by Julien et al [4]. These authors conducted a series of small-scale experiments based on a multi-chamber model and proposed a good analytical estimation of the maximum overpressure in the entire model as a function of the chamber volumes.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Blast wave propagation in survival shelters: experimental analysis and numerical modelling

et al. 2018

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The propagation of blast and shock waves in confined environments is a complex phenomenon; yet, being able to derive valid predictions of such phenomena is highly relevant, for example, when it comes to the assessment of protection of personnel in military environments. This study looks at the propagation of blast waves inside a compound survival shelter. Experimental analyses are performed on a small-scale model of the actual configuration of the shelter subjected to the detonation of an explosive charge at different locations close to its entrance. Pressure-time signals are recorded on a number of locations in the model. A numerical model is also developed to complement the experimental program, based on the explicit finite element (FE) code LS-DYNA. The recorded experimental data (e.g., pressure and impulse) are compared with the numerical predictions to validate the FE model. The authors discuss two different modelling approaches (the Lagrangian and the MM-ALE formulations) and analyse the influence of using a different number of ambient layers, the advection method, the time-step size, and level of discretisation. The proposed numerical model predicts and captures the relevant stages of the propagation of the shock wave very well, with error levels on the resulting specific impulse always lower than 19% when compared to the experimental observations. Keywords Blast wave • Shock wave • Small-scale models • Confined explosions • Experimental analysis • Numerical modelling • LS-DYNA

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Experimental investigation of blast wave propagation in an urban environment

Cited by 25 publications

References 4 publications

Experimental and Numerical Study of Blast-Structure Interaction

Experimental and Numerical Study of Blast-Structure Interaction

Prediction of blast loading in an internal environment using artificial neural networks

Blast wave propagation in survival shelters: experimental analysis and numerical modelling

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