A Scalable Experimental-Modeling Framework for the Characterization of Dust and Debris Effects on the Chemistry Environment

The innovation proposed is the development of advanced validated modeling and simulation (M&S) capabilities capturing the effects of dust and debris on the complex thermal and/or chemistry environment resulting from weapon engagement inside of responding structures or in proximity of soil/dirt-covered surfaces. Within the context of chemical and/or biological (CB) agent defeat (AD) applications as well as advanced energetics (AE) applications, the proposed enhanced M&S predictive capabilities will be developed based on a scalable integrated experimental-modeling framework that will be established as part of the overall SBIR program and that can be leveraged to scale up the characterization of dust and debris effects in this SBIR program and beyond. In order to accurately resolve the relevant physics and chemistry associated with dust and debris effects, two key strongly coupled processes that need to be addressed in a coordinated fashion are: (i) dust and debris generation due to fragment and blast interactions with surfaces like concrete walls, and (ii) fireball dynamics and neutralization of the agent (or its simulant) driven by turbulent mixing, multi-phase processes and most importantly chemistry in terms of afterburning and thermal/chemical decomposition. In order to generate suitable validation test data, a carefully entwined and synergistic experimental and modeling effort is proposed.