Device for Underwater Laboratory Simulation of Unconfined Blast Waves

Abstract

Shock tubes simulate blast waves to study their effects in air under laboratory conditions; however, few experimental models exist for simulating underwater blast waves that are needed for facilitating experiments in underwater blast transmission, determining injury thresholds in marine animals, validating numerical models, and exploring mitigation strategies for explosive well removals. This method incorporates an oxy-acetylene driven underwater blast simulator which creates peak blast pressures of about 1860 kPa. Shot-to-shot consistency was fair, with an average standard deviation near 150 kPa. Results suggest peak blast pressures from 460 kPa to 1860 kPa are available by adjusting the distance from the source.