A laboratory scale technique to simulate a combined blast wave and projectile impact loading on structures

This work is a part of a larger research effort to better understand the combined effect of the resulting blast wave and fragments impact following the detonation of a shrapnel bomb . This study presents insights into the establishment of a laboratory scale technique to generate a combined effect of blast and projectile impact loading on a target. In order to reduce the complexity associated to the random nature of the shape of the projectiles, in a first approach, Steel Ball Bearings (SBB) are used. They are embedded in a spherical solid explosive, which is detonated in free air and at the entrance of an Explosive Driven Shock Tube (EDST) using a standard electrical detonator. A data base of the time interval Δt is obtained through the experimental set-up. It has been demonstrated that the Δt is influenced by the charge and projectile parameters (charge shape, charge mass, projectile size) and the Stand Of Distance (SOD) from the centre of the explosion.