Investigations on air and underwater blast mitigation in polymeric composite structures ? A review

Polymer-based sandwich composites have found increasing applications in the marine industry, where they are at an ever-increasing risk of encountering high-intensity underwater (UNDEX) or in air (AIREX) explosive loading. This review presents the current state of the art in achieving adequate blast mitigation, employing polymeric composites. An attempt has been made to highlight the differences in loading mechanisms between AIREX and UNDEX and segregate the mechanisms through which polymers can mitigate these two loading modes. This understanding facilitates the development of a tailored design approach to blast mitigation. Furthermore, recent blast mitigation research related to composite sandwich architecture is discussed in detail, focusing on various components' effect on mitigation performance. Finally, additively manufactured applications, auxetics, and other foam metamaterial constructions are also presented in relation to the mitigation effort. The recent interest in such materials for use as the core in polymeric sandwich construction against blast loading is covered cohesively with the rest of the discussion.