Denny, J. orcid.org/0000-0003-3181-4747, Langdon, G. orcid.org/0000-0002-0396-9787, Rigby, S. orcid.org/0000-0001-6844-3797 et al. (2 more authors) (2024) A numerical investigation of blast-structure interaction effects on primary blast injury risk and the suitability of existing injury prediction methods. International Journal of Protective Structures, 15 (1). pp. 3-22. ISSN 2041-4196
Abstract
Explosions increasingly occur in densely populated, urban locations. Primary blast injuries (PBIs), caused by exposure to blast wave overpressure, can be predicted using injury criteria, although many are based on idealised loading scenarios that do not necessarily reflect real life situations. At present, there is limited understanding of how, and to what extent, blast-structure interaction influences injury risk, and the suitability of injury criteria that assume idealised loading. This work employed computational fluid dynamics to investigate the influence of blast interaction effects such as shielding and channelling on blast load characteristics and predicted PBIs. The validated modelling showed that blast interaction with common urban features like walls and corners resulted in complex waveforms featuring multiple peaks and less clearly defined durations, and that these alter potential injury risk maps. For example, blast shielding due to corners reduced peak overpressures by 43%–60% at locations behind the corner. However, when the urban layout included a corner and a wall structure, higher pressures and impulse due to channelling were observed. The channelling significantly increased the injury risk at the exposed location and reduced the shielding effects behind the corner. In these cases, the application and interpretation of existing injury criteria had several limitations and reduced reliability. This demonstrates that structural-blast interaction from common urban layouts has a significant effect on PBI risk. Specific challenges and further work to develop understanding and reliability of injury prediction for urban blast scenarios are discussed.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © The Author(s) 2022. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) which permits any use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is properly cited. |
Keywords: | blast-structure interaction; built environment; injury criteria; numerical analysis; computational fluid dynamics; injury prediction; blast effects |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Engineering (Sheffield) > Department of Civil and Structural Engineering (Sheffield) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 20 Jan 2023 16:09 |
Last Modified: | 25 Sep 2024 15:52 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | SAGE Publications |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1177/20414196221136157 |
Related URLs: | |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:195515 |