A Combined Multi‐Material Euler/Lagrange Computational Analysis of Blast Loading Resulting from Detonation of Buried Landmines

Detonation of landmines buried to different depths in water‐saturated sand is analyzed computationally using transient non‐linear dynamics simulations in order to quantify impulse loading. The computational results are compared with the corresponding experimental results obtained using the Vertical Impulse Measurement Fixture (VIMF), a structural mechanical device that enables direct experimental determination of the blast‐loading impulse. The structural‐dynamic/ballistic response of the Rolled Homogenized Armor (RHA) used in the construction of the VIMF witness plate and the remainder of the VIMF and the hydrodynamic response of the TNT high‐energy explosive of a mine and of the air surrounding the VIMF are represented using the standard materials models available in literature. The structural‐dynamic/ballistic response of the sand surrounding the mine, on the other hand, is represented using our recent modified compaction model which incorporates the effects of degree of saturation and the rate of deformation, two important effects which are generally neglected in standard material models for sand. The results obtained indicate that the use of the modified compaction model yields a substantially better agreement with the experimentally‐determined impulse loads over the use the original compaction model. Furthermore, the results suggest that, in the case of fully saturated sand, the blast loading is of a bubble type rather than of a shock type, i.e. the detonation‐induced momentum transfer to the witness plate is accomplished primarily through the interaction of the sand‐over‐burden (propelled by the high‐pressure expanding gaseous detonation by‐products) with the witness plate.