Investigation of Trinitrotoluene (TNT) Equivalent Ratio of Spherical PE4 Charge Detonated on Non-Rigid Ground Surface Based on Peak Incident Overpressure Values
Jestin, J.1, Mohd Zaid Othman2, Ahmad Mujahid Ahmad Zaidi3
1Jestin, J., Department of Civil Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, National Defence University of Malaysia, Sungai Besi Camp, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
2Mohd Zaid Othman, Department of Civil Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, National Defence University of Malaysia, Sungai Besi Camp, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
3Ahmad Mujahid Ahmad Zaidi, Department of Civil Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, National Defence University of Malaysia, Sungai Besi Camp, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Manuscript received on 13 December 2018 | Revised Manuscript received on 25 December 2018 | Manuscript Published on 24 January 2019 | PP: 86-89 | Volume-7 Issue-4S2 December 2018 | Retrieval Number: ES2091017519/19©BEIESP
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© The Authors. Blue Eyes Intelligence Engineering and Sciences Publication (BEIESP). This is an open access article under the CC-BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)
Abstract: Peak incident overpressure is a parameter which is commonly used to estimate explosive performance. However, the peak incident overpressure of an explosive differs from one another depending on various factors. Therefore, it is convenient to equate the overpressure of an explosive in question to the equivalent overpressure of a standard material such as trinitrotoluene (TNT). TNT equivalent ratio for a number of high explosives can be found in literature except for plastic explosive (PE4) which is often of limited references. In this paper, an investigation of TNT equivalent ratio of spherical PE4 charge detonated on non-rigid ground surface at standoff distances of 1 m to 3.1 m was carried out using numerical simulation software and validated with experimental results. Results showed that TNT equivalent ratio 1.37 appeared to be reasonably well for spherical PE4 charge detonations on non-rigid ground surface at a standoff distance of 1 m whereas 1.19 was appropriate for standoff distances of 2.6 m and 3.1 m. This indicates that TNT equivalent ratio based on peak incident overpressure varies with distance and therefore two values of TNT equivalent ratio are proposed in this case study.
Keywords: TNT Equivalent Ratio, Peak Incident Overpressure, Plastic Explosive and AUTODYN3D.
Scope of the Article: Civil and Environmental Engineering