A Mobile Application for Prediction of Blast Overpressure Exposure in Civilian and Military Operations

Breaching methods are a foundational skill in many military roles, but exposure to shockwave blast over pressure (BOP) presents acute and chronic risks. In open fields, the K-equation determines the safe standoff distance. However, the K-equations does not work in spaces with walls and rigid structures. The majority of blast instances that personnel will be exposed occur during training, where with effective BOP prediction tools, personnel could be positioned into safe locations. Current predicative models are complex and expensive to run. TDA proposes to build an intuitive application run on a tablet that will let the training facility specify the room dimensions and the net explosive charge.  The app will provide a real time estimate of the BOP map in the room. To build the app, TDA will shift focus from maximizing simulation fidelity with explicit waveform propagation models to a less computationally intense approximate method. The approximate method allows for faster simulations, with BOP maps generated in real time. The app will provide a mobile capability to predict the BOP exposure map within an easily defined detonation zone, thereby providing breachers and other explosive specialists with real time, actionable recommendations to improve their safety in the field.