The Mechanics Of Momentum Transfer From Explosive Charges Buried In Water, In Sand, And In Sand With Fines

THE MECHANICS OF MOMENTUM TRANSFER FROMEXPLOSIVE CHARGES BURIED IN WATER, IN SAND,AND IN SAND WITH FINESbyDAVID M. FOXAugust 2014Advisor: Dr. Trilochan SinghCo-Advisor: Dr. Joon Sang LeeMajor: Mechanical EngineeringDegree: Doctor of PhilosophyPhysical tests involving full-scale systems subjected to blast loads are expensive. Thedevelopment of more accurate computational and analytical methods to better understandand predict the mechanics of mine blast phenomena could be used to reduce the cost ofdevelopment of mine protected vehicles and protective equipment for personnel involved indemining and similar activities.Although the science associated with air blast and blast-related ground shock phenom-ena is very extensive, that of mine blast, involving explosives buried in soil, is less welldeveloped. In this work, theoretical, experimental, and computational methods are synthe-sized to better understand some of the mechanisms that affect the way that an explosivecharge, buried in a bed containing soil or water, might affect a structure located above andin proximity to the surface of the bed.For some loading regimes, the flow of soil as it is ejected from the surface of a blastcrater is important. This work first examines the behavior of a bed containing sand-likeparticles suspended in air by virtue of the flow of the air. A computational technique, usingfinite differences, was developed to solve the equations of motion for the fluidized bed. Themethod was applied to predict Couette flow and compare the predictions with published