An Abridged Review of Blast Wave Parameters

In case of blast loading on structures, analysis is carried out in two stages, first the blast loading on a particular structure is determined and second, an evaluation is made for the response of the structure to this loading. In this paper, a review of the first part is presented which includes various empirical relations available for computation of blast load in the form of pressure-time function resulting from the explosion in the air. Different empirical techniques available in the form of charts and equations are reviewed first and then the various blast wave parameters are computed using these equations. This paper is providing various blast computation equations, charts, and references in a concise form at a single place and to serve as base for researchers and designers to understand, compare, and then compute the blast wave parameters. Recommendations are presented to choose the best suitable technique from the available methods to compute the pressure-time function for obtaining structural response.