Analysis of a Plate under Blast Load

by
Brian Cabello
A Project Submitted to the Graduate
Faculty of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
in Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the degree of
MASTER OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

Approved:

_________________________________________
Professor Ernesto Gutierrez-Miravete, Project Adviser

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

Hartford, Connecticut
May, 2011
© Copyright 2011
by
Brian Cabello
All Rights Reserved
 CONTENTS
LIST OF FIGURES .......................................................................................................... ii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ............................................................................................... iii
1 ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................ iv
2 INTRODUCTION/BACKGROUND ......................................................................... iv
3 PROBLEM DESCRIPTION ........................................................................................ v
4 METHODOLOGY/APPROACH .............................................................................. vii
4.1 AIR BLAST WAVES ......................................................................................... vii
4.1.1 DETONATIONS ....................................................................................... vii
4.1.2 AIR BLAST WAVES .............................................................................. viii
4.1.3 PRESSURE-TIME DISTRIBUTION ........................................................ ix
4.1.4 MAXIMUM/MINIMUM PRESSURE ........................................................ x
4.1.5 IMPULSE ................................................................................................... xi
4.1.6 NEGATIVE PHASE ................................................................................... xi
4.1.7 WAVE FORM PARAMETER .................................................................. xii
4.1.8 SHOCK FRONT VELOCITY ................................................................... xii
4.1.9 SPECIFIC HEAT RATIO......................................................................... xiii
4.2 COMPUTATIONAL METHODS ...................................................................... xiii
5 REFERENCE ............................................................................................................. xv

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 LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1.0 Blast wave propagation
Figure 2.0 Plate Boundary Condition
Figure 3.0 Blast Source
Figure 4.0 Element Mesh
Figure 5.0 Pressure-time curve for a free air blast wave
Figure 6.0 Model of Kingery [4] with scaled distances
Figure 7.0 Different parameters for the negative phase

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 ACKNOWLEDGMENT
Type the text of your acknowledgment here.

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 1 ABSTRACT
A bomb explosion within or immediately nearby a building can cause catastrophic
damage on the building’s external and internal structural frames, collapsing of walls and blowing
out of large expanses of windows. Loss of life and injuries to occupants can result from many
causes, including direct blast-effects, structural collapse, debris impact, fire and smoke. Due to
the threat from such extreme loading conditions, efforts have been made during the past three
decades to develop methods of structural analysis and design to resist blast loads. The analysis
and design of structures subjected to blast loads require a detailed understanding of blast
phenomena and the dynamic response of various structure elements.
2 INTRODUCTION/BACKGROUND
An explosion is a rapid release of stored energy characterized by a bright flash and an
audible blast. Part of the energy is released as thermal radiation (flash); and part is coupled into
the air as airblast and into the soil (ground) as ground shock, both as radially expanding shock
waves. The rapid expansion of hot gases resulting from the detonation of an explosive charge
gives rise to a compression wave called a shock wave, which propagates through the air. The
blast wave instantaneously increases to a value of pressure above the ambient atmospheric
pressure. This is referred to as the positive phase that decays as the shock wave expands outward
from the explosion source. After a short time, the pressure behind the front may drop below the
ambient pressure (Figure 1.0). During such a negative phase, a partial vacuum is created and air
is sucked in. This is also accompanied by high suction winds that carry the debris for long
distances away from the explosion source.

Figure 1.0 Blast wave propagation

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 As the shock wave travels outward from the charge, the pressure in the front of the wave,
called the peak pressure, steadily decreases. At great distances from the charge, the peak
pressure is infinitesimal, and the wave can be treated as a sound wave.
3 PROBLEM DESCRIPTION
This project will focus on the analysis of how different blast loading (shock wave) affects
a plate of High Ductility Stainless Steel Alloy (Al-6XN). The specimen will consist of a 305mm
x 305mm x 61mm plate. The solid plate is modeled with three-dimensional continuum elements
and is subjected to CONWEP blast loading using different charge masses (1 and 3kg TNT).
The boundary conditions for the analysis will have all degrees of freedom including the
rotational degrees of freedom are fixed at the top and bottom of the plate (Figure 2.0).

Boundary
Condition

Figure 2.0 Plate Boundary Condition

The 1 and 3 kg TNT blast source (RP-1) is kept at a standoff distance of 200 mm from the
front surface and center of the plate (Figure 3.0). The plate surface uses a 31 x 31 C3D8R
element with five layers of elements through the thickness of the plate (Figure 4.0).

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Blast Source

Figure 3.0 Blast Source

Figure 4.0 Element Mesh

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 4 METHODOLOGY/APPROACH
4.1 Air Blast Waves
4.1.1 Detonations
Explosions can be distinguished in detonations and deflagrations. The difference between
detonations and deflagrations is the velocity of the reaction zone in the explosive. Deflagrations
have a slower reaction zone than the sound speed. Examples for deflagrations are the burning of
gas-air-mixtures and slow explosives like gun powder.
Detonations have a faster reaction zone than the sound speed. The most common explosives
react with detonations.
To compare different explosive the TNT equivalent can be used. The TNT equivalent is a
method for quantifying the energy released in the detonation of an explosive substance, by
comparing it to that of an equal quantity of TNT. It is known that 1 kg TNT releases the energy
of 4.520x106 J.
The effects of an explosion can be distinguished in three ranges:
Contact detonation: The explosive is in contact with the loaded material. The load-time
function depends on the loaded material, which, in most cases, is destroyed.
Occurrences are the blasting of concrete (demolition etc.) or terrorist attacks where the
explosive is located directly on the structure.
Near zone of the explosion: In most cases he material is also directly damaged like in the
contact zone.
Far zone. The blast wave resulting from the detonation dominates the effects on humans
and structures.
The size of all these zones depends on the quantity of the explosive charge.
Additional parameters for a detonation, depending on the size of the explosive, can be defined.
For example, the radius in which debris from the explosion (not from the blast wave) are
possible is give by Kinney [5] as
1

r 45W 3 (1)
Where, r is expressed in m and W is the TNT equivalent of the explosive in kg.

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4.1.2 Air Blast Waves
The pressure that arrives at a certain point depends on the distance and on the size of the
explosive.

Figure 5.0 Pressure-time curve for a free air blast wave

The main characteristics of the development of this pressure wave are the following:
The arrival time ta of the shock wave to the point under consideration. This includes the
time of the detonation wave to propagate through the explosive charge.
The peak overpressure pmax – The pressure attains its maximum very fast (extremely short
rise-time), and then starts decreasing until it reaches the reference pressure p0 (in most
cases the normal atmospheric pressure).
The positive phase duration td, which is the time for reaching the reference pressure.
After this point the pressure drops below the reference pressure until the maximum
negative pressure pmin. The duration of the negative phase is denoted as tn.
The incident overpressure impulse, which is the integral of the overpressure curve over
the positive phase td.
The idealized (free air blast) form of the pressure wave of Figure 5.0 can be greatly altered by
the morphology of the medium encountered along its propagation. For instance, peak pressure
can be increased up to 8 times if the wave is reflected on a rigid obstacle. The effects of the
reflection depend on the geometry, the size and the angle of incidence. By setting γ =1.4 (ratio
of specific heats of air), it can be shown that the reflected overpressure pr is

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 7 po 4 p max
pr 2 p max (2)
7 p0 p max

All parameters of the pressure time curve are normally written in terms of a scaled distance
d
Z 3
(3)
W
where W is the mass of the explosive charge and d the distance of the centre of the charge.
4.1.3 Pressure-Time Distribution
There are available in the literature several pressure-time-curves for different kinds of
explosions. The effects of nuclear explosions here should be disregarded.
The pressure at a known point can be described by the modified Friedlander equation (from
Baker [6]) and depends on the time t from the arrival of the pressure wave at the time (t = t0-ta)
bt
t td
p(t ) p0 pmax(1 ) (4)
td
The other parameters involved are the atmospheric pressure p0, the maximum overpressure pmax
and the duration of the positive pressure td. The parameter b describes the decay of the curve. It
can be calculated with a known minimum pressure after the positive phase. Alternatively, the
parameter b can be calculated with the knowledge of the impulse.
All parameters for the pressure-time curve can be taken from different diagrams and equations
(Baker [6], Kinney [5], Kingery [4]) See Figure 6.0.

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 Figure 6.0 Model of Kingery [4] with scaled distances
4.1.4 Maximum/Minimum Pressure
Kingery [4] developed in 1984 curves for the description of the different air blast parameters by
using a rich body of experimental data, which had been properly homogenized. The parameters
are presented in double logarithmic diagrams with the scaled distance Z as abscissa, but are also
available as polynomial equations. These diagrams and equations enjoy the greatest overall

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acceptance and are widely used as reference by most researchers. The parameters are also
implemented in different computer programs that can be used for the calculation of air blast
wave values. e.g. they are implemented in ConWep. The same curves are also used for an easy
air blast load model in ABEQOUS.
4.1.5 Impulse
The impulse of the air blast wave has a big influence on the response of the structures. The
impulse is defined here as the area under the pressure time curve with the unit of pressure*sec.
The impulse can be calculated with [5].

0.067 1 ( Z / 0.23) 4
I (5)
Z 2 3 1 ( Z / 1.55 ) 4

4.1.6 Negative Phase

Detonations produce an overpressure peak, and afterwards the pressure decreases and drops
below the reference pressure (generally the atmospheric pressure). The influence of the so-called
negative phase depends on the scaled distance. For scaled distances Z larger than 20 and
especially for Z larger than 50 the influence of the negative phase can not always be neglected.
The size of the positive impulse and of the negative impulse is then nearly the same. If the
structure can react successfully to the positive pressure but is more sensitive to negative pressure,
failure of parts of the structure can result from this negative pressure phase [8]. However, in
several cases the negative phase is neglected e.g. in the air blast function of the CONWEP-Code.
Smith [7] presents the following equation to calculate the value of the negative pressure.
0.35 5
pmin 10 Pa for Z > 1.6 (6)
Z
The duration time of the negative pressure pmin can be calculated with
1
tn 0.00125 W 3
[sec] (7)
Another possibility to get these parameters in a diagram (see Figure 7.0) in Krauthammer [xx].
By using this diagram the limitation of equation (7) can be overcome by assuming
0.35 5
pmin 10 Pa for Z > 3.5 (8)
Z
0.35 5
pmin 10 Pa for Z < 3.5
Z

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The duration of the negative phase in the diagram of Krauthammer can be described with the
following function
1
tneg 0.0104 W 3
[sec] for Z < 0.3 (10)
1
tneg (0.003125 log(Z ) 0.01201) W 3
[sec] for Z < 0.3 & Z ≤ 1.9
1
tneg 0.0139 W 3
[sec] for Z > 1.9

Figure 7.0 Different parameters for the negative phase

4.1.7 Wave Form Parameter
The decay or form parameter b in the Friedlander equation (4) describes the decay of the
pressure-time curve. The Friedlander equation has the parameters pmax, td, and b. pmax and td can
be readily found as explained before. There are several possibilities to calculate the decay
parameter b by using another known value of the pressure-time curve:
1. Using the minimal pressure in the negative phase. Then, as it will be shown, the impulse
of the positive phase is not accurate.
2. Using the impulse of the positive phase. Then, as it will be shown, the minimal pressure
in the negative phase is not accurate. An additional equation for the negative phase
should be used to avoid a smaller underpressure than the atmospheric pressure.
4.1.8 Shock Front Velocity
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The arrival time of the shock front at different points can be used to calculate the velocity of the
shock front. With the knowledge of this velocity the pressure can be obtained with the Rankine
Hugoniot relationship.
Kingergy [4] calculates also the shock front velocity depending on the pressure as
1 pmax 12
u c0 (1 ) (11)
2 po
The parameter γ (ratio of specific heats of air) depends also on the overpressure and can be taken
from a table in [9]; c0 is the sound velocity in air (331 m/sec); pmax is the peak overpressure and
p0 is the atmospheric pressure (101.3 kPa).
4.1.9 Specific Heat Ratio
The specific heat ratio γ is defined as
cp
(12)
cv
with cp being the specific heat at constant pressure and cv the specific heat at constant volume.
Both the specific heat ratio and the speed of sound depend on the temperature, the pressure, the
humidity, and the CO2 concentration. Kingery [4] defines the variation of the specific heat ratio
with a range of 1.402 to 1.176.
4.2 Computational Methods
Computational methods in the area of blast-effects mitigation are generally divided into those
used for prediction of blast loads on the structure and those for calculation of structural response
to the loads. Computational programs for blast prediction and structural response use both first-
principle and semi-empirical methods. Programs using the first principle method can be
categorized into uncouple and couple analyses. The uncouple analysis calculates blast loads as if
the structure were rigid and then applying these loads to a responding model of the structure.
The shortcoming of this procedure is that when the blast field is obtained with a rigid model of
the structure, the loads on the structure are often over-predicted, particularly if significant motion
or failure of the structure occurs during the loading period. For a coupled analysis, the blast
module is linked with the structural response module. In this type of analysis the computational
fluid mechanics (CFD) model for blast-load prediction is solved simultaneously with the
computational solid mechanics (CSM) model for structural response. To account for the motion
of the structure while the blast calculation proceeds, the pressures that arise due to motion and
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failure of the structure can be predicted more accurately by using AUTODYN, DYNA3D AND
LS-DYNA.

xiv
 REFERENCES
In Progress
[1] Dobratz, B.M and Crawford, P.C., "LLNL Explosives Handbook", UCRL-52997 Rev.2
January 1985
[2] Longinow, Anatol and Alfawakhiri, Farid, Modern Steel Construction, “Blast Resistant
Design with Structural Steel”, October 2003.
[3] Remennikov, Alexander M. Journal of battlefield technology, “A review of methods for
predicting bomb blast effects on buildings”, Vol 6, no3. Pp155-161. 2003.
[4] Kingery, Charles N.: Bulmash, Gerald: Airblast Parameters from TNT Spherical Air Burst
and Hemispherical Surface Burst, Defense Technical Information Center, Ballistic Research
Laboratory, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, 1984.
[5] Kinney, Gilbert F.; Graham, Kenneth J.: Explosive Shocks in Air, Springer, Berlin, 1985.
[6] Baker, Wilfrid E.: Explosions in the Air, University of Texas Pr., Ausint, 1973.
[7] Smith, P.D.; Hetherington, J.G.: Blast and Ballistic Loading of Structures. Laxton’s 1994.
[8] Krauthammer, T.; Altenberg, A.: Negative phase blast effects on glass panels, International
Journal of Impact Engineering, 24 (1), pp. 1-18; 2000.
[9] Kingery, C.N.; Pannill, B.F.: Parametric Analysis of the Regular Reflection of Air Blast,
BRL Report 1249, June 1964 (AD 444997).

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