A PC-Based Tool for Coupled CFD and CSD Simulation of Blast-Barrier Responses

Abstract

An integrated experimental, analytical, and computational effort is being made in the Center for Explosion Resistant Design, in collaboration with national laboratories and industry, on the structural design, first-principle simulation, and development of an empirical model and PC-based code for predicting the responses of a blast barrier. To catch the essential feature with an effective simulation tool, an axisymmetrical model is formulated to predict the blast environment in the presence of a barrier with the use of a coupled computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and computational solid dynamics (CSD) simulation procedure based on previous work. This coupled CFD and CSD simulation procedure is designed via the Material Point Method (MPM) in spatial discretization that is an extension from CFD to CSD. The scaled blast experimental databases from smallscale tests performed by the national laboratories are employed to determine the gaps in the database that indicate a need for additional experiments. An empirical model is developed based on the experimental data and the first-principle simulation model. System identification models are then established to predict the blast pressure based on a range of parameters such as bomb size and position, wall dimensions, angle of incident, and location of target. In collaboration with the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), the proposed model-based simulation procedures are verified and improved with fullscale experiments, and the structural design of the barrier prototype is examined for nearfield blast loads to evaluate various confinement strategies and materials. Based on the above results, the empirical model will be implemented into a user-friendly PC-based code for predicting the blast pressure and impulse on structures in the presence of the prototype blast barrier. In the presentation, recent research results on the coupled CFD and CSD simulation of blast-barrier responses will be discussed.