Design Procedure for a Blast Wave Generator and Its Validation with Shock Tube Experiments

Abstract

Studies on blast wave effects on structures and living things are gaining popularity recently due to increased terrorist attacks and the warlike situation among many countries. Generation of blast wave at field tests through detonating the explosives is hazardous and very expensive. As an alternative, shock tube having a very small driver section length can be used in the laboratory for generating a pseudo blast wave for studies related to blast wave attenuation, mitigation and understanding the injury mechanisms. The length of the driver section is a key parameter to produce blast wave for a given driven section, pressure ratio and working fluid. Here, a detailed procedure to design a blast wave generator using the characteristics analytical method is elucidated. It is also substantiated with the axisymmetric numerical simulations performed using ANSYS-Fluent and shock tube experiments performed at CSIR-CMERI Durgapur. Further, various components essential for the cost-effective blast generator is also discussed.