Failure Predictions of a Clamped Plate Under Close-in Blast Loading

Faculty Mentor(s)

Dr. Roger Veldman, Hope College

Document Type

Poster

Event Date

4-13-2012

Abstract

The goal of this project was to create an effective computer simulation that predicts the response of a thin clamped plate to close range explosive blast loading. In this study, the response of two models created with the commercial software program LS-Dyna were compared to actual results from physical testing. The first model used a Lagrangian model for the structure and the LOAD_BLAST function within LS-DYNA. This method applies blast pressures to a structure according to a database of measured explosive pressures based on charge size and distance from the detonation. In the second model, the explosive event was simulated using an Arbitrary Langrangian Eulerian (ALE) model, which includes a model of the high explosive and the ambient air in addition to the thin plate. It was found that the LOAD_BLAST model applied higher pressures on the plate since this method applies pressure loads as if the structure were stationary. In the ALE model, the fluid-structure interaction of the air, explosive, and plate were calculated as the plate deflects under the applied blast loading. Due to the plate movement during the blast pulse, a decreased amount of pressure was applied to the panel when compared to a stationary structure. Since this deflection of the thin plate during the applied blast pulse more closely models the actual behavior of the structure, the ALE modeled predictions were found to be more consistent with the experimental data for overall plate deflections.

Comments

This material based on a grant from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security

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