Geotechnical centrifuge model tests for explosion cratering and propagation laws of blast wave in sand

This paper presents the explosion cratering effects and their propagation laws of blast waves in dry standard sands using a 450 g-t geotechnical centrifuge apparatus. Ten centrifuge model tests were completed with various ranges of explosive mass, burial depth and centrifuge accelerations. Eleven accelerometers were installed to record the acceleration response in sand. The dimensions of the explosion craters were measured after the tests. The results demonstrated that the relationship between the dimensionless parameters of cratering efficiency and gravity scaled yield is a power regression function. Three specific function equations were obtained. The results are in general agreement with those obtained by other studies. A scaling law based on the combination of the pi terms was used to fit the results of the ten model tests with a correlation coefficient of 0.931. The relationship can be conveniently used to predict the cratering effects in sand. The results also showed that the peak acceleration is a power increasing function of the acceleration level. An empirical exponent relation between the proportional peak acceleration and distance is proposed. The propagation velocity of blast waves is found to be ranged between 200 and 714 m/s.