Analysis of reflected blast wave pressure profiles in a confined room

Isabelle Sochet (1) , Pierre-Emmanuel Sauvan (1) , Sophie Trelat (2)

1 PRISME - Laboratoire Pluridisciplinaire de Recherche en Ingénierie des Systèmes, Mécanique et Energétique
2 IRSN - Institut de Radioprotection et de Sûreté Nucléaire

To understand the blast effects of confined explosions, it is necessary to study the characteristic parameters of the blast wave in terms of overpressure, impulse and arrival time. In a previous study, experiments were performed using two different scales of a pyrotechnic workshop. The main purpose of these experiments was to compare the TNT equivalent for solid and gaseous explosives in terms of mass to define a TNT equivalent in a reflection field and to validate the similitude between real and small scales. To study the interactions and propagations of the reflected shock waves, the present study was conducted by progressively building a confined volume around the charge. In this way, the influence of each wall and the origins of the reflected shock waves can be determined. The purpose of this paper is to report the blast wave interactions that resulted from the detonation of a stoichiometric propane-oxygen mixture in a confined room.

Mots clés: Small-scale experiments; TNT; Plastrite; Gaseous detonation; Incident shock wave; Reflected shock wave; Confined explosion

Domaines: Milieux fluides et réactifs

Isabelle Sochet, Pierre-Emmanuel Sauvan, Sophie Trelat. Analysis of reflected blast wave pressure profiles in a confined room. Shock Waves, 2012, 22 (3), pp.253-264. ⟨10.1007/s00193-012-0363-1⟩. ⟨hal-00692601⟩