Measuring spatial pressure distribution from explosives buried in dry Leighton Buzzard sand

Direct measurement of the intense loading produced by the detonation of a buried explosive is an extremely difficult task. Historically, high-fidelity measurement techniques have not been sufficiently robust to capture the extremely high pressures associated with such events, and researchers have relied on ‘global’ measurements such as the average loading acting over a particular area of interest. Recently, a large-scale experimental approach to the direct measurement of the spatial and temporal variation in loading resulting from an explosive event has been developed, which utilises Hopkinson pressure bars (HPBs) inserted through holes in a large target plate such that their faces lie flush with the loaded face. This article presents results from ten experiments conducted at 1/4 scale, using 17 HPBs to measure the spatial pressure distribution from explosives buried in dry Leighton Buzzard sand, a commonly available sand used in many geotechnical applications. Localised pressure measurements are used in conjunction with high speed video to provide a detailed examination of the physical processes occurring at the loaded face, as well allowing quantification of these effects. Example pressure–time and impulse–time traces are provided in full to allow researchers to use this data for validation of numerical modelling approaches.