Characterisation of Blast Loading: Current Research at The University of Sheffield

The Blast & Impact Research Group at the University of Sheffield is currently involved in several projects aimed at providing a better understanding of the blast pressure acting on targets under different threats. These projects fall broadly under two distinct scenarios: the combined soil-throw/blast load acting on a vehicle underside resulting from the detonation of a shallow-buried improvised explosive device; and the free-air blast load acting on a structural component which either wholly or partly forms a non-infinite reflecting surface. The research is largely experimentally based, and is augmented with numerical analysis. This paper provides a brief overview of the work conducted to date.