Lightweight Energy-Deposition IED Blast and Momentum Bypass/Mitigation

The proposed effort will characterize the effect demonstrated in the preceding Phase I effort, in which energy was deposited in the air under a vehicle, in order to create low-density channels within the air. These low-density channels underneath the vehicle were demonstrated to preferentially guide high-pressure blast gases out from under the vehicle at high speed, thereby relieving the pressure under the vehicle and mitigating the upward force on it from said blast gases. In the proposed Phase II effort, we will experimentally investigate/demonstrate the effect we observed in our Phase I computational fluid dynamics effort. In addition to continuing our modeling effort, we will perform measurements to determine the degree to which the computational results capture the experimental dynamics. This will be accomplished through parametric studies, both computationally as well as experimentally, to the degree possible. For the proposed Phase II Option effort, we intend to add soil (sand), to determine its effect on the gas dynamics and our technique's ability to mitigate the effect of the blast gases under these circumstances.