Blast Mitigation Using Brittle Foam Based Sacrificial Cladding: A Feasibility Study

The behavior of structures subjected to blast loading has been increasingly studied during the last few decades because of the important risk associated to explosive-based terrorist attacks and industrial accidents. In order to protect structures in the case of intentional or accidental explosions, sacrificial claddings (SC) based on a crushable foam core can offer an interesting low-weight and low-cost solution. Foams are able to dissipate the energy produced during an explosion by crushing. This paper investigates the feasibility of using brittle mineral foam instead of polymeric or metallic foams as core material of a SC for the protection of structures, i.e. buildings or vehicles, against an explosion. 3D high-speed full-field measurements and finite element simulations are used to determine the efficiency of the foam to protect against a near-field explosion. The mitigating potential of the foam is evaluated by comparing the deformations of a blast loaded aluminum plate with and without the foam protection in two different configurations: (i) a fully clamped plate in a fixed rigid frame and (ii) a fully clamped plate in a freely suspended rigid frame. The second configuration allows the estimation of the attenuation of the global acceleration of the foam protected structure, which is of importance for the occupants of a vehicle subjected to an underbelly explosion.