Improved Explosion Consequence Analysis with Combined CFD and Damage Models

The most-widely used approach to explosion consequence analysis is the classical engineering method based on the combination of TNT equivalence, scaled distances and overpressure-based damage levels. This approach rests on established and easily comprehensible elements and permits a fast assessment of explosion consequences. There are however several limitations inherent in this approach. In contrast, a simulation-based approach using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and structural dynamics (CSD) methods permits an analysis with a high level of detail regarding both the prediction of the explosive loads and the caused damage. This comes at the cost of complex simulation models which require expert knowledge, intense validation and a high computational effort. To bridge the gap between the classical simplified approach and the CFD/CSD based methods, we have developed a specialized CFD tool, the APOLLO Blastsimulator, with a built-in library of experimentally validated damage models and blast-injury models suitable for an improved explosion consequence analysis. The high resolution CFD tool uses globally and locally adaptive Cartesian grids and includes models for TNT detonations as well as gas detonations. The built-in damage models are based on experimentally validated single-degree-of-freedom (SDOF) representations of structural components. This paper gives a brief review on the classical approaches and their limitations and an overview on the concepts used in the APOLLO Blastsimulator and the SDOF damage models. For an exemplary explosion scenario the results obtained with different explosive source and damage models are compared.