Development of Blast Event Simulation

Similar to Army ground vehicle applications, there is a strong interest in being able to conduct vulnerability assessment for buildings and other infrastructure due to explosive threats. Buildings and facilities can be subjected to blast pressure loads and fragments from a threat positioned either outside the building or in its interior. The new developments will provide a simulation capability for computing the loads and the damage induced on buildings due to pressure waves and high velocity projectiles created by the detonation of an explosive. The areas which are shielded from the projectiles will also be identified as "safe" zones. BEST was originally developed and utilized for simulating the response of ground vehicles and its occupants to the loads from a buried explosive. It has been validated through comparison to test data and it has been used for increasing vehicle survivability. The new developments will enable utilizing BEST in building force protection applications. The new tool will be used for designing new buildings or retrofitting existing ones for increased blast worthiness. It will also be used for developing blast mitigation strategies that reduce the damage and increase the "safe" zones.