GASEOUS EXPLOSIONS AND THEIR GROUND EFECTS

摘要

The effects of an explosion on underground structures are of increasing importance to the weapon designer interested in achieving a desired level of lethality [1,2]. This in turn requires an understanding of the pressure waves generated within the ground by an explosive charge either air-burst or buried, and the way they subsequently interact with buried structures. The size of the charge and its coupling efficiency with the ground are additional parameters of interest. A distributed charge has a greater potential to cause increased levels of damage to a structure, because of its ability to load more of a structure for a longer time. This paper presents some recent numerical modelling studies concerning a natural gas explosion and the loading generated on a buried gas main. The insights gained into the potential effectiveness of a distributed energy source and the numerical modelling challenges in its simulation are presented and discussed.