MODELING OF BLAST LOADING ON ABOVEGROUND STRUCTURES .1. GENERAL PHENOMENOLOGY AND EXTERNAL BLAST

The paper is concerned with the prediction of dynamic effects of unconfined explosions needed for the structural analysis of blast-loaded aboveground structures. The basic features of the explosion and blast wave phenomena are presented along with a discussion of TNT equivalency and blast scaling laws. The characteristics of incident overpressure loading due to atomic weapons, conventional high explosives and unconfined vapour cloud explosions are addressed and followed by a description of the other blast loading components associated with air flow and reflection process. In the final part, the modelling of external blast loads on the different faces of aboveground rigid structures is considered. A unified approach is followed in the presentation of the governing equations of modelling of blast loads for mathematical and practical applications.