Buried Charge Engineering Model: Verification And Validation

Livermore Software Technology Corporation (LSTC) recently added an empirically-based model for buried mine blast loading via the keyword *INITIAL_IMPULSE_MINE. This is an engineering model based upon experimental results, much like the air blast engineering model provided by *LOAD_BLAST_ENHNACED. The model is based on the work of Westine, et al. (1985) as presented, and extended, by Tremblay (1998). The implementation is applicable to flat (horizontal) and oblique (angled) target plates consisting of either shell or solid elements. Westine, et al. (1985) performed a series of buried charge experiments using thick (non-deforming) target plates with a set of impulse plugs inserted into holes drilled in the plate. The impulse plugs were spaced at 10 different ranges from the plate center, and hence angles from the center of the buried charge. Detonation of the buried charge forces the impulse plugs vertically out of the plate and measurement of their speed provides an estimate of the momentum (impulse) provided by the buried charge.