Experimental and numerical investigation of badarpur sand subjected to air-blast loading

Abstract

In the present study, the results of experimental and numerical investigation of Badarpur sand subjected to air-blast loading generated from a laboratory-scale blast simulator are presented. The air-blast loading on the sand specimen is simulated experimentally using a vertical shock tube test facility to investigate the stress wave attenuation and vibrational characteristics of the Badarpur sand. The peak stress wave pressure and peak particle acceleration are recorded using the synchronized pressure transducers and triaxial accelerometers embedded inside the sand specimen. A stress enhancement of about 1.25-2.69 times the peak over-pressure is observed at the top one-third layer of the sand due to its compaction by the stress wave generated upon the blast wave impact. The stress wave intensity first increases and then rapidly decreases with the depth of the sand specimen. The amplitude of the peak particle acceleration is also observed to attenuate with the depth of the sand specimen. Further, based on the experimental results, the empirical equations are developed to predict peak particle velocity against the scaled distance with a power law index of 3.9, 2.5, and 3.0 for dense-coarse, dense-fine, and medium-dense fine sand, respectively. The numerical model of the vertical shock tube and sand specimens are also developed based on the Arbitrary Lagrangian-Eulerian formulation, commercially available in finite element simulation package LS DYNA and the results are validated with the experimental data.