Influence Of The Soil Properties On Craters Produced By Explosions On The Soil Surface.

Abstract

In case of terrorist attacks or other intentional actions using explosives, it is
extremely important the information that can be obtained from the crater generated by the
blast waves. For example, the focus of the explosion and the mass of the explosive used in the
attack can be deduced examining the location and dimensions of the crater. However, studies
about craters produced by explosions on or above ground level, which would be the case
when the explosive charge is situated in a vehicle, are rarely found in the open technical
literature. In a previous paper, a numerical study related to crater produced by explosive
loads located on the soil surface was presented. In this paper, a study about the influence of
the variability of the soil properties on the crater dimensions is presented.
The numerical model as well as the analysis procedure were validated against experimental
observations of the crater diameters. Results of numerical tests performed with different
amounts of explosive on the soil surface are presented. Moreover, the effect of elevation of the
center of energy release of explosive loads located on the soil surface is analyzed and
discussed. Simple prediction equations for the crater diameter are presented.