Numerical investigation of a water barrier against blast loadings

Abstract

Water is a potentially promising material for blast mitigation. The commercially available polyethylene containers filled with water was feasible to be constructed as water barriers against blast loadings. In this research, numerical studies were carried out to investigate the mitigation effects of the water barrier that is a polyethylene container filled with water. A developed numerical model was calibrated and validated against a number of field blast tests. The numerical results indicated that the water barrier provided good mitigation effect against blast loadings and therefore it has the potential to be widely used in the areas where potential blast attacks are expected. Parametric study was also performed by the validated numerical model. The effects of water/charge scaled distance, water barrier scaled height and water barrier scaled thickness on the blast mitigation effects were clarified, and the blast mitigation mechanism was discussed. Some empirical formulae of those key design parameters were derived based on the experimental and numerical results. An applicable optimum construction principle of the polyethylene water barrier against blast loadings was proposed to maximize its blast mitigation effect, based on a modified equivalent static load method.